Do You Remember
by superfreakerz
Summary: AU. Orihime had stood up for Ulquiorra while he was getting bullied when the two were kids and they hadn't seen each other since. Or at least that's what she thought. Years have passed and the two have been in the same class for a while and Ulquiorra decides to get Orihime to remember him and inform her of how she drastically changed his life that day.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

In Karakura town, it was a nice and peaceful day. The sky was a brilliant shade of blue, there were no clouds in sight, birds chirped a beautiful melody, and children were laughing and having fun at the park. The grass was a luscious green, soft and misted from the earlier shower of rain. Parents stood together, talking about the most recent gossip they could stir up. From the looks of it, one would say that there was no miserable person in sight. Unless they were to see the little boy sitting on the swings by himself, tears gathering in his eyes.

None of the kids went near him, for their parents had told them not to. The boy was too strange looking and different for their liking. Thus, the child sat alone at the swing set while the rest of the kids laughed and played at the jungle gym. The black haired boy had been bullied often, verbally and physically, but it was the loneliness and envy that got to him the most. He was envious of everybody else playing together and having a good time. Self-hatred lurked in the child, angry at himself for being different than the rest. Finally, the tears began to fall from his eyes and stream down his face. He hated crying, but he did it often, even though the kids that had bullied him picked on him for it. Once they had drawn tears streaks in green marker going down his face. The only person that was nice to the emerald eyed boy was now out of his life and he was thrown into immense loneliness, unable to escape it.

"Hey look! It's that freak, Ulquiorra!" the boy heard. It was coming from one of his regular bullies and his followers. The boy kept his head down, not wanting the other children to see his tears. "I'm talking to you, you freak!"

"…I can hear you." Ulquiorra replied.

"Well then acknowledge me next time I take my precious time to notice a freak like you!" Then Ulquiorra's regular beating came. He was thrown off of the swing and into the dirt. Other children's parents did nothing to help- as usual- and continued with their gossip. The kids started to kick and punch the defenseless child. Ulquiorra let out shrieks and whimpers occasionally and continued to cry. He wished that he didn't exist. He wished that he could just vanish from the earth and return to the one person that treated him like a human being. He couldn't have cared less at the moment if one of the kicks or punches were to end his life.

"Hey! Get off of him!" he heard a very high pitched voice demand. Ulquiorra kept his head covered by his hands and his body in a fetal position.

The beating paused and he heard the leader of the group say, "Shut up! Who are you to tell us to stop? This guy is a freak! He's not like us and it makes no difference what we do to him! He's just a freak!"

"Well the only freaks I see here are you! Who cares if he's different? My brother told me that different is good!"

"Wait a second," the leader said, "I know you! You are that girl that recently moved here because you are just like this freak! You two stand out too much!"

"We are not freaks! My brother told me-"

"I don't care what your brother told you! You are nothing but a freak, just like Ulquiorra. C'mon guys, let's go. She took the fun out of this today." With that, the group left, leaving the outcasts together.

Ulquiorra slowly and cautiously lifted his hands off of his head and looked up to see his rescuer. Tears were still streaming down his face and now he was bloody and bruised. Casting his gaze to the person who saved him, it was as he predicted: it was a female child. She looked about his age with short, auburn hair. The color of her hair deeply fascinated him and it was clear that her hair is what the kids meant by her being different like him. She had big grey eyes and a smile that greeted him warmly. She had a couple of scratches and Ulquiorra figured that she was being tortured just as he was.

"Hello there," the girl said, extending her arm out to him and offering to help him up.

Ulquiorra slowly accepted her help up and replied, "…Hello."

"My name is Orihime, Inoue! What's your name?"

"…Ulquiorra, Schiffer."

"It's nice to meet you, Ulquiorra! Look, don't listen to them! My big brother Sora says that others are too boring and jealous and that's why that can't handle people like us!"

"…Thank you for helping me. Nobody has ever done that for me before."

"Well, we are friends now! That's what friends are for!"

Ulquiorra looked at her in shock. The green eyed child has never had a friend in his life. He just met this girl and she is already claiming they are friends. He didn't mind it at all. Instead, a smile was graced upon his face. "Yeah!"

The two kids then played like any other child, completely forgetting about how they were mistreated. They laughed, smiled, jumped, ran, and had the times of their lives together. Ulquiorra wished that it could stay like this forever. But sadly, all good things come to an end in his life.

"Orihime, it's time to come home!" a peaceful voice said.

"Sora!" Orihime squealed, jumping into the man's arms. Ulquiorra stood in disappointment, sad that he and Orihime's time together was coming to an end. The orange haired girl turned back and looked at him. "This is my big brother! I have to go now! Maybe we can play again together some other time?" Ulquiorra smiled at her and nodded. "Well, bye Ulquiorra! And don't just let those kids bother you from now on! Stand up for yourself!" The two Inoue siblings then walked away together, leaving a sad and once again lonely Ulquiorra.

"_I can't wait to see her again," _the boy thought as he walked home.


	2. Chapter 2

**Authors Note: **so if you read my last story called locked in the library, this chapter is very similar. I decided to use a bit of the prompt from my last story and use it in this one but add some more stuff! Enjoy!

Chapter 2

It was a beautiful and sunny morning in Karakura town. It was a great morning for Orihime, Inoue to wake up to. The orange haired girl sat up and cutely rubbed her eyes. She let out a just as cute yawn and got out of bed to get dressed for school. She tossed her uniform on and brushed her gorgeous hair. Orihime then left her apartment, greeted her neighbors and the lady across the street, and started walking to school.

Orihime's school was interesting. There was a type of rivalry going on between her group of friends and another group of people they called "untamed savages." Sometimes they would even call the group "arrancars." Orihime had no idea what that meant, but she figured it was some kind of derogative word and shrugged it off. She had never really participated in the gossiping and such about the arrancars for she was too innocent and pure hearted for that.

Orihime entered her classroom and started walking towards her desk. As usual, the girl began to imagine a scenario of her and Ichigo- something like him dressed as a prince and saving her and confessing his love for her- and she began to space out as she walked. She accidentally bumped into somebody else while she was in her own world. Stumbling back, she looked up to see who she had bumped into and it was none other than Ulquiorra, Schiffer.

The beautiful girl smiled up at him and said, "Oh! I'm sorry, Ulquiorra-kun! I didn't see you there!" She then rubbed the back of her head and giggled.

Ulquiorra glared at her coldly and hissed back, "Of course you didn't, you were too busy spacing out." He began to walk away but stopped and said, "And do not call me that. It is simply 'Schiffer' to you or nothing at all, which is what I prefer."

Orihime stood there shocked and confused, wondering why he had talked so harshly to her. She knew that she had bumped into him but she did not see the need to talk so harshly. The girl shrugged it off and assumed the rumors were true- Ulquiorra was nothing but a grouch. Orihime took her seat by Tatsuki, who was now asking her what had happened.

"Hey what did that jerk say to you?" she asked in a caring and threatening way.

"Oh he just said to either call him 'Schiffer' or nothing at all."

Just then, Ichigo and Rukia walked into the classroom together. Orihime had gotten used to seeing them together all the time. Sure it upset her because she was definitely not oblivious of their feelings towards each other, even though they themselves were. Ichigo and Rukia constantly bugged and annoyed each other, but deep down they loved each other. The amber haired girl truly did think that they were a cute couple, but she couldn't just forget her feelings towards Ichigo. He was her first love, how was she supposed to move on from that?

Ulquiorra walked to his desk and his group of friends- Grimmjow, Hallibel, Stark, Szayelapporo, and Nnoitra. Although he would never admit it, these people really were his only friends.

"Wow, Ulquiorra! Way to be a douche to that chick!" Grimmjow said, smirking.

"Shut up," Ulquiorra replied, taking his seat. "Why does it concern you anyways?"

It doesn't really, but that girl is Orihi-"

"I know who she is."

"Alright well she is friends with-"

"I know who she is associated with."

"Alright, jackass! I'm just saying good job! Now that carrot top is going to be more pissed than ever now that you were rude to their 'little princess' of the group! I can't wait to see that!" Grimmjow said, letting out a maniacal laugh.

"Pathetic." Hallibel mumbled, Stark nodding in agreement, trying his hardest not to just fall asleep.

"Hey, Inoue," Ichigo greeted with a warm smile. This, of course, sent a wave of butterflies rushing through Orihime.

"Good morning Kurosaki-kun and Kuchiki-san!" Orihime shouted with happiness.

"Alright class, take a seat and shut up. Class is starting now," the teacher announced.

Everybody did as they were instructed and took their seats. Orihime began to stare out the window smiling for no reason, unaware that she was being watched. Ulquiorra sat in the opposite side of the room- the back right corner to be exact. He couldn't help but stare at the odd girl with amusement and fascination. How could she look so content just staring out the window? After forty five minutes, he realized that he had been staring at her. This frustrated him. He should not be fascinated by her, for she was trash just like the rest of the people around him.

"Bye Tatsuki-chan!" Orihime said as she waved goodbye to her friend. School was over and she was now alone. The orange haired girl then walked back into the school and went to the library. There was a project due in the next couple of days and she wanted to do some research on it. She began to search through the shelves of books looking for the right one to tell her what she needed for the project, but the she stumbled upon a book in the fiction section. It was a book called Kissed By an Angel and it was about a girl whose boyfriend was murdered and the killer goes after her. Orihime picked it up and skimmed through the first couple of pages. She was then hooked and sat down in the middle of the aisle and began to read more. The girl was a fast reader surprisingly and finished the book. Orihime then put the book back on the shelf and stood up. The library was empty. Nobody could be seen or heard. She then realized that the lights were much dimmer than they were when she first arrived.

"_What time is it?" _she thought to herself. Orihime pulled out her phone to find out that it was 11:32. "_Wait… 11:32… the library in school is closed at 10." _It took a few seconds for what had happened to finally register in her head: she was locked in the library at school.

"Holy cow! I'm locked in school! Oh no, how could this have happened!?" The girl frantically ran to the door but it was of no use. She was locked in the library for the whole night and there was nothing she could do about it. She then walked to the tables and sat down. "Great, I'm stuck in the library all alone with nothing to do."

"Who said that you were alone, onna?" a familiar voice said from behind her.

Orihime jumped from being startled and turned around to see Ulquiorra. "Ulquiorra-kun? Oh, I mean uh, Schiffer? What are you doing in here?"

"Same as you: I got caught up in my reading and lost track of time. It happens often. Are you afraid of the dark, onna?" the emerald eyed man asked without taking his eyes off of his book.

"Hey, if I can't call you 'Ulquiorra-kun', then you can't call me 'onna'! My name is Orihi-"

"I know your name; I just do not care to say it. Now answer my question, onna."

Orihime sighed and answered, "Of course not! I'm not a scaredy cat!" she lied. "Wait why are you asking if I'm afraid of-"

Just then the lights turned off and everything went pitch back. The girl let out a shriek which definitely irritated the dark haired boy in the room.

"The lights turn off automatically after a while." Ulquiorra announced.

"Oh really? I never would have guessed." Orihime replied sarcastically in a slightly trembling voice. Although he couldn't see her, Ulquiorra knew that she actually was afraid of the dark and was shaking.

"I thought you weren't afraid of the dark?"

"I thought you didn't want to talk to me but here we are."

Ulquiorra smirked which luckily could not be seen by Orihime. "Come here, onna; you can't stand there forever."

"I can't see you!"

Ulquiorra sighed and got up. He walked towards her without bumping into any chairs, tables, or walls- he had been locked in the library many times he was used to the darkness and memorized basically the whole layout of the library. When he finally approached Orihime, he laid his hand on her shoulder. "Take my hand, onna." Hesitantly, she did as she was told and grabbed his hand and they walked back to his seat. They sat side by side in complete silence. Finally, Orihime let go of his hand.

"Thank you," she mumbled.

"There is no need to thank me," he replied.

"Can I ask you something?"

"If you must."

"Why do you hate me?" The situation instantly became awkward and Ulquiorra's body stiffened. "I know that you and your group don't like my friends, but I haven't done anything to any of you guys… Except for bumping into you, which I really am sorry about! And for calling you Ulquiorra-kun! I am really sorry about both of those so can you not hate me anmore?"

"What does it matter if I dislike you or not? And it is nothing personal, onna. I dislike everybody."

"Oh… Okay then…"

"I seem to have offended you."

Orihime let out a fake giggle and replied, "No, no! I'm used to this sort of stuff. When I was a kid people always bullied me for my hair-"

"Your hair?"

"Yeah, my hair," she answered giggling once more. "It was too long apparently and they didn't like the color, so they all bullied me and teased me. Once a bunch of mean girls cornered me and beat me up and cut my hair."

"…"

"So I am used to having people not like me sometimes! Sure, it can hurt being disliked for no reason, and I get confused as to why they don't like me, but it's okay! I just have to toughen up and be nice!" she beamed.

"I see… If it makes you feel better- even though I do not care if it does or not for I do not care about your wellbeing and your feelings do not concern me- out of all of these ridiculous idiots, I dislike you the least. You seem to… interest me."

Orihime smiled, ignoring his lie about not caring about her wellbeing, for if he didn't care he wouldn't have helped her find a seat, and said, "Thank you, Ulquiorra-kun."

"I told you to not refer to me as that."

"Ulqui-kun?"

"No."

"Its either Ulqui-kun or Ulquiorra-kun. You choose."

"…Fine. Ulquiorra-kun."

Orihime giggled and said, "You aren't so bad, Ulquiorra-kun!"

"As are you, onna." The two then sat in silence until Orihime passed out, Ulquiorra desperately wanting to twirl his hair in his fingers.

"_So it seems that she does not remember," _he thought, peacefully staring at the girl until he eventually fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: **AU's are definitely harder to write than normal stories haha! Enjoy and please review!

Chapter 3

"Onna, wake up."

Orihime, who was laying on top of one of the library tables, was woken up by a familiar voice. She rolled over to see Ulquiorra sitting in the seat right in front of her, watching her. "U-Ulquiorra!? What are you doing here!?" Ulquiorra simply sighed and let her figure it out herself. "Wait, why am I in the library!?" The girl then remembered being locked in the library after getting too caught up in a book and how Ulquiorra helped her find her way to a table in the dark. "Oh yeah…"

"Are you done now?" Ulquiorra asked impatiently.

"Yep!"

"We may go now. The janitor unlocked the door. You need to get ready for school don't you?"

"Oh my god, school! What time is it!?"

"6:02; you have about an hour and 15 minutes to get ready."

"Well, lets go! You have to get ready too!"

The two then left the building, trying not to be spotted. When they were in front of the school, Orihime stopped to say goodbye. "Well, goodbye, Ulquiorra! I'll see you in class!" the girl said. Ulquiorra simply nodded and she began to run home.

"_That is one strange onna," _he thought as he began to walk home. "_This is odd. The onna still leaves the same empty feeling from that day she left me at the park."_

* * *

><p>Orihime threw her bag on the couch and ran inside the bathroom. She quickly stripped off every article of clothing and then ran to the washing machine and threw them in there. "<em>My clothes aren't going to be washed and dried in time! I'll be late for school today!" <em>Running back into the bathroom, she rushed into the shower, letting the warm water run over her body. She began to relax and she sighed in peace. "_Well, since I'm already going to be late, there's no need to rush."_

After her shower, she put on a fluffy robe and made herself French toast covered in jelly and wasabi and practically inhaled it. She then sat on the couch and began to watch whatever was playing on TV. 45 minutes passed and she heard the washing machine beep, signaling that her clothes were now washed. She went and threw them into the dryer and once again sat down on the couch. Images from last night started to play in her head. It was like she had a sleepover with Ulquiorra last night!

"_Last night was… surprisingly nice," _she thought to herself. "_Ulquiorra really isn't really that bad of a person! I wonder why Kurosaki-kun and the others don't like him! Well, he can be a little harsh at times."_

Finally, it was 7:50 and her clothes were now dry. She put on her uniform, got her stuff, put her shoes on, and left for school. Arriving at about 8:05, only 50 minutes late, Orihime entered the classroom only to be hit by a flying piece of chalk.

"Why are you late, Miss Inoue?" her teacher, who was obviously the one that threw the chalk, asked.

Orihime, who was now rubbing her forehead from the piece of chalk, looked around the room to find Ulquiorra sitting at his desk reading a book. She wondered how he managed to make it on time. "Sorry sensei! Ulquiorra and I were locked in the library overnight because we were too caught up in reading and so I had to rush home and get ready!"

Gasps and hushed whispers were heard throughout the room. Stuff like: "Inoue-san and Schiffer in the library? All night?" Or, "Why were they even reading together? Are they dating?" And even, "Inoue-san should be with me, not that jackass!"

The teacher sighed and asked, "If that's true, then why is Schiffer here on time?"

Everybody turned to look at Ulquiorra. "Unlike the onna," he started, "I am able to get ready quickly.

Orihime stuck her tongue out at him, which she could have sworn made a corner of his mouth twitch up, and the teacher told her to take her seat.

"Alright then," the teacher began, "back to the lesson."

Unlike yesterday, Orihime decided to actually pay attention to the lecture. Jotting down notes, she was once again unaware by the intense staring from Ulquiorra. But this time, somebody did. Ichigo, Uryu, and Grimmjow caught a glimpse of what was going on. Ichigo and Uryu, as to be expected, were unhappy by this. Grimmjow simply smirked and tried to hold in his laughter. Soon, the bell for lunch rang and like always, Ulquiorra was the first one out the door, but this time he was closely followed by Ichigo and Uryu.

"Hey, Schiffer," Ichigo called out, "why were you and Inoue hanging out in the library last night?"

Ulquiorra stopped walking, turned around to look at them, and answered, "Were you not listening? We were locked in there, idiots."

Uryu stepped in and said, "Look, just stay away from her, alright? We saw you staring at her today in class. First of all, that's creepy. Second of all, you just need to back off."

The emerald eyed boy glared at him and shot back, "And if I don't want to? You two idiots do realize that she is not your property and she is not yours, correct?"

Ichigo, anger rising in him, shouted just as Orihime, Rukia, Tatsuki, and Sado walked out to see them, "Of course we know she's not our property! We are just trying to protect our friend from you and your psychotic group of perverts!"

Orihime stood shocked, confused, and unsure as to what to do. "K-Kurosaki-kun? Why are you yelling at Ulquiorra?"

"It is nothing, onna," Ulquiorra said, walking away. "If you'd excuse me now."

Once he was gone, Ichigo turned to Orihime and asked, "Inoue, do you like Schiffer?"

The girl turned a very dark shade of red. "Do I like Ulquiorra?" she repeated. "He is nice and I wouldn't mind being friends w

* * *

><p>ith him but no I don't like him in that way."<p>

"You shouldn't want to be his friend either," Uryu chimed in. "Him and his whole group are nothing but jerks and perverts."

"I'm sorry, Hime, but I agree with them on this." Tatsuki said.

Orihime frowned. She really wanted to befriend Ulquiorra. Rukia noticed her frown and said, "Hey guys, go easy on her. She can be friends with whoever she wants. But Inoue, those guys are trouble. It's okay though, you have us!"

The girl smiled at her companion and nodded. "_Well, I guess I can't be friends with Ulquiorra."_

The group then went to their usual spot on the roof to eat their lunch.

"Hey guys, guess what!" Grimmjow said as he saw Ulquiorra walking up to them. "Emo shit has a little crush on the princess!"

Nnoitra and Szayelapporo started laughing while Hallibel and Stark shrugged it off. Ulquiorra glared so coldly at Grimmjow, anybody passing by would be so terrified.

"I do not have a _crush_ on the onna." Ulquiorra stated, sitting next to Hallibel. "She means nothing to me. I detest her along with everyone else, including you."

"Then why were you staring at her during class, huh?"

"I was not staring at her. She is interesting, that is all."

"Sure she is. We all know that just means you wanna fuck her, am I right?"

Ulquiorra was for some reason angered by that statement. "No, I do not want to engage in sexual contact with her, Grimmjow."

"Well then what _do_ you want to do with her?"

"Nothing."

"Liar."

"Shut up." Ulquiorra then sat up and threw his food away. "Even if I did hold feelings towards that trash, it wouldn't matter anyways."

"Why not?" Stark asked, finally somewhat intrigued enough to listen.

"Because she obviously holds feelings for that garbage, Kurosaki. I'm going to the library." Ulquiorra answered as he walked away.

* * *

><p>"Oh! I just remembered," Orihime announced, "I forgot to actually get a book from the library for our project! I should go do that now!"<p>

"See you later, Inoue." Ichigo said smiling at her.

"Bye!"

Orihime entered the library, instantly thinking of last night.

"I see that you are back."

The girl turned around to see Ulquiorra sitting in the same spot as before reading another book. "Oh, uhh, hello."

"Your friends warned you not to talk to me, correct?"

"I have to go find a book."

The orange haired girl scurried off into the nonfiction section of books. She stood there ashamed of herself for listening to her friends about not talking to Ulquiorra. "_He may seem nice but Kurosaki-kun and the others are probably right… He's just trouble. I need to listen to them." _ Thus, the girl quickly got the books she needed and left the library, leaving the emerald eyed boy sighing.

"_I guess the onna really does hate me. But why should I care? It is not as if I have feelings towards her."_

**Author's Note: **Thank you to everybody who reviews and favorites/follows! Next post on Monday!


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Ulquiorra woke up to yet another beautiful and sunny day. The grass was as green as ever, the sun was shining, birds were chirping, and kids were playing, yet none of that was enough to bring the boy out of his terrible mood. Ulquiorra knew that the kids at school said he was nothing but a grouch, but this did nothing to change his attitude. He did not care about any of their opinions. Yet the morning did remind him of that fateful day. The day he met Orihime Inoue.

_FLASHBACK_

"Oh look!" the young girl said. "These are pretty flowers!"

"Those are actually weeds." Ulquiorra stated.

Orihime pouted and looked at the other child. "I don't care what they are, they are still pretty!" The girl then bent down and picked two of the weeds. She handed one of them to her friend and said, "Here, take this! These flowers are extremely rare-"

"They are not rare nor are they flowers."

"Shh! Anyways, like I was saying, these flowers are extremely rare! They are friendship flowers! I have one and you have one! Make sure to cherish it and keep it forever!"

Although the boy did not understand the girl's crazy antics, he took the weed and agreed to keep it for the rest of his life. All he knew was that he was glad to have finally found a friend and that he would do anything to keep her in his life.

_END OF FLASHBACK_

Ulquiorra got out of bed and began to get ready for school. He got his uniform out of his closet and put it on. He then went into the bathroom to brush his teeth and his hair. Coming back into his room, he got his bag and was about to leave. His routine was an everyday thing and it came naturally to him. He did the same things every day- except recently his life has been a bit more interesting thanks to a certain someone. The next thing he was about to do was usually the most interesting and his favorite part of his day. He walked towards the desk that was in his room, opened one of the little drawers, and pulled out a tiny box. Opening the little box, he saw his most prized possession: a dead weed, darkened in color and devoid of all of the petals. It was nothing but a dead a shriveled up weed, but he made sure nothing would ever happen to it. Everyday before leaving to school, he looked at the 'friendship flower' and reminisced about how he made his first friend. He then remembered how Orihime left him by himself in the library last night.

"_Maybe I should just leave her alone."_

Looking down at the weed, he realized that he couldn't. He wasn't exactly fond of her like he used to be when he was a child, but he was interested nonetheless and he needed her to remember who he was. He wasn't going to be done with her until she remembered who he was and how she changed his life.

"Good morning Kurosaki-kun, Kuchiki-san!" Orihime said in delight as she saw the couple walk in the classroom.

"Good morning, Inoue," the two replied.

"Did you ever find that book for the project?" Ichigo asked.

"Yes I did!" Orihime answered, taking it out of the bag to show her friends. "Hopefully this will help, it was the only book I could find that was somewhat about the assignment." Just then Orihime saw Ulquiorra stoically enter the classroom as quiet as ever. She watched him walk to his desk in the back right corner, not even sparing her a glance. "_After what I did to him yesterday, I don't blame him for not noticing me."_

"Alright everyone, take your seats and be quiet already. Class is starting," the teacher announced as she walked into the classroom.

Everybody sat in their seats and either listened to the lecture, fell asleep, zoned out, or doodled. Except for Orihime, of course. She couldn't help but stare at the black haired boy across the room. Little did she know that he was quite aware of her staring and was growing amused from it. The amber haired girl enjoyed looking at his eyes. They were such a beautiful and deep shade of green. She also found delight looking at the way his dark hair fell over his face and framed it perfectly. Although he was a little on the pale side, she had to admit that Ulquiorra was not a bad looking guy. "_No… Not bad at all." _The girl then looked over at Ichigo- much to Ulquiorra's disliking. She also found herself liking his eyes as well. Shaking her head a little, she decided to finally pay attention to the lecture.

"Alright, those are your partners. So get to work!" the teacher announced, confusing Orihime who had just started to listen.

"_Wait, partner? What partner?"_

"Hey, Tatsuki-chan! Why is she talking about partners?" Orihime asked.

"Huh? Weren't you listening? We were all just assigned partners for our project because she said she didn't want to grade a bunch of projects so she combined them. I wish she at least partnered me with you!" Tatsuki answered.

"Did you happen to hear who I was partnered with?"

"With _him." _Ichigo said, standing next to the two girls, nodding his head towards Ulquiorra. Orihime followed his gaze until she realized he was talking about Ulquiorra, who happened to be looking straight ahead as if he was unfazed by who was partnered up with.

"I got paired up with Ulquiorra?"

"You don't have to do it Inoue! We can talk to sensei and have her change it!"

"No, no! It's fine! I don't mind working with him!"

Ulquiorra's lips twitched up to a barely visible smile which only lasted for a second after hearing her words. In the corner of his eye, he saw the girl approaching him.

"U-Ulquiorra?" he heard her say.

He turned his head towards her and said, "Yes, onna?"

"We uhh, got paired up as partners for our project! I don't know if you heard sensei say that or not."

"Yes, I did hear her say that because unlike you I wasn't busy staring at people during her lecture."

Orihime's face turned a dark shade of red and began to fumble with her hands which did nothing but amuse and fascinate Ulquiorra. "Oh, I uhh, I wasn't s-staring! I just like to uhh… look around the room sometimes!"

The green eyed boy did not even try to hide his smirk, which surprised Orihime. "So, onna, when are we going to work on our assignment?"

"Well, tomorrow is Saturday and I don't have anything planned. It would give us more time together to work on it. Do you have any plans?"

"I am free for tomorrow." The bell then rang, signaling that the school day was over and that it was time to go home. Students quickly left the building, excited that it was finally the weekend. "You shall come to my house tomorrow onna. You shall not refuse," Ulquiorra said as he got up and left a speechless Orihime to ponder what he had just said.

**Author's Note: **Hope you enjoyed! Please review!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"WHAT!?"

"Yes, I know it's surprising but… it's just for our school project!"

Orihime was just sitting on her bed that night talking to Tatsuki on the phone about how her new partner had told her she was coming to his house whether she wanted to or not. The amber haired girl kept telling herself that it was simply to work on the school project, but some part of her couldn't help but think that it wasn't all about the project. Part of her even wondered if the rumors about him being nothing but a pervert were true. She shook her head and told herself that she was going to go to his house and apologize for the other day in the library.

"Yes Tatsuki, I'll be careful!"

"Make sure to bring pepper spray and use the karate moves I told you in case you need them! And do not go into his room no matter what he says!"

"Okay, okay! Bye Tatsuki!"

"Later, Orihime!"

Once she hung up, she laid back onto her bed and constantly replayed her conversation with Ulquiorra. Suddenly, the realization that she had no way to contact him hit her. She had no way to ask when to come over. She didn't even know where he lived! "_Maybe he was just joking about me coming over… He would have given me his number or something! Or maybe he forgot like I did. Well, there goes hanging out at Ulquiorra's house."_ The girl found herself starting to feel disappointed. "_Wait, why am I disappointed!? I didn't even want to go to his house to begin with!" _she lied. Deep down she knew that she was excited about their plans. Orihime then began to fall asleep after half an hour of tossing and turning. She could deal with their plans in the morning.

* * *

><p>Orihime woke up the next morning to the sound of knocking at her door. She looked at her alarm clock to find that it was only 8 in the morning. Confused as to who could be knocking at her door so early on a Saturday morning, she got out of bed and walked to her front door. Opening it, she found Ulquiorra standing there looking impatient. When he saw her in her fluffy pajamas and fluffy robe, he smirked.<p>

"Onna, it is time to leave to my house. Why are you not dressed yet?" Ulquiorra asked, still looking at her clothes.

"U-Ulquiorra! How did you know where I lived!? A-and you never told me we were leaving at 8 in the morning!" Orihime replied trying to fix her very messy hair and hide her blush.

"It does not matter. Hurry up and get ready, I do not have all day."

Orihime gave him a quick glare and was about to close the door to go get ready when she saw Ulquiorra walk into her apartment without permission.

"You do not invite your guests inside your house and just leave them outside? Such low hospitality."

Orihime sighed and pointed at the couch. "You can sit there and watch TV if you want. The kitchen is over there if you are hungry! I'm going to go get ready now!"

"Make it quick."

Orihime swiftly went to her bathroom and hopped in the shower. She thought about how strange and interesting Ulquiorra was and decided that she liked it. There was something about their short encounter that had confused her though. When she opened the door, butterflies flew up in her stomach and she was undoubtedly happy to see him. It was as if she saw Ichigo, but instead it was Ulquiorra, a boy that she knew nothing about except for the fact that he wasn't very fond of her- or anyone really.

Getting out of the shower, she quickly dried herself off and threw her clothes on. She decided to wear a skirt that went a little past her knees and a nice tank top that was able to at least cover most of her cleavage. The girl then brushed her beautiful mane of orange hair and brushed her teeth. She smiled at herself in the mirror and felt that she had looked nice. Exiting her room, she went back to the living room to find Ulquiorra sitting on the couch reading one of her books. Although she was gone only for a short while, he managed to get pretty far in the book.

"You really like reading, don't you Ulquiorra?" Orihime asked, walking into the kitchen to grab them some food. She put some bread in the toaster and got out some jam, wasabi, and red bean paste.

"It is a sufficient use of my time," he answered, putting the book back on the shelf and walking into the kitchen.

"I made some toast! Do you want anything on it?"

"I am not hungry. Hurry up."

Orihime sighed and put her shoes on and headed out the door with her partner behind her.

"How far away is your house Ulquiorra?" Orihime asked after 10 minutes of an awkward walk.

"Not too far now keep walking."

The girl sighed and decided to just walk in silence. She had lost her motivation to talk to him. "_I can't believe I got butterflies over a guy like this."_ Images of Ichigo then popped up in her head. She started to blush a little.

"Onna, are you sick?

"Huh?"

"Your face is becoming red as if you have a fever. Are you feeling unwell?"

"O-Oh no! I'm fine I was just thinking about… It's nothing!"

"…"

Finally after another 15 minutes of silent walking, they arrived outside of Ulquiorra's house. Orihime stared in amazement at how huge it was. "You live here, Ulquiorra!?" she asked.

"Obviously. Do not ask such ridiculous questions," he answered walking towards the door. An older woman who appeared to be a maid opened the door for them. She could hear loud yelling coming from somewhere in the house by a man.

"Uhh, what now?"

"We start our project."

"Okay! We should do it in the dining room so we have the table!"

"Don't be ridiculous. It is much too loud out here. We shall work on it in my room."

"Y-Your room?" Orihime asked, remembering her conversation with Tatsuki.

"Yes, my room. Now hurry up and follow me."

The girl hesitantly followed her partner to his room. Entering it, she saw that it was a big room. He had a large desk equipped with little drawers, a big bed, and plain black walls. His room was surprisingly clean despite all the rumors she's heard saying that boys' rooms are always messy. "So this is what a boy's room looks like!"

"Enough rambling. It's time to start the project. That is what you are here for and nothing else. I would like to take the time to remind you that you and I are not friends."

Orihime's smile instantly fell and her happiness quickly diminished. She looked down at the floor to attempt to hide her sadness. Simply nodding her head, she pulled her book out of her bag. "I brought the book I was trying to get from the night we were locked in the library…"

"Good. Sit down." The girl simply looked around the room for a place to sit and looked at him confused. Understanding what she was silently asking, he said, "Take a seat on my bed."

She blushed for a second and looked surprised but she did as she was told, much to Ulquiorra's liking. He sat down beside her and watched her open the book. What he saw next made his eyes grow wide. When the girl opened her book, he saw a bookmark with a flattened, dead weed inside of it. It was no doubt the friendship flower from years ago.

"What is that?" Ulquiorra asked, pretending as if he didn't know.

"None of your business. Let's start the project now," Orihime replied.

Ulquiorra was taken aback by her cold and harsh attitude. He could not back down or lose to her. "Onna, you will answer my question right now."

"You know what Ulquiorra? I'm tired of you acting as if you control me! I don't even know you! You don't even know me! So stop ordering me around and let's get this stupid project over so I don't have to talk to you ever again!" Ulquiorra stared stoically at her but Orihime knew that her words hurt him. But at the moment, she didn't care. He had said many harsh things to her so he deserved this. "Did you know that I was bullied a lot when I was a kid? I never stood up for myself! In fact, the only time I stood up to a bully was for somebody else! But I'm not that same little girl anymore! I'm not going to just let you talk to me like that! So be quiet and get to work on the assignment!"

Ulquiorra couldn't contain the small smile that spread across his face. It definitely surprised Orihime but it quickly diminished all hatred and tension in the room. It made everything calm and peaceful. Not only was his smile mesmerizing to Orihime, she couldn't help but drown in his dark green eyes. "So you remembered?" he finally asked.

"Huh? Remember what?"

"It's nothing, onna. Shall we start now?"

"O-Okay…"

Ulquiorra couldn't help but feel glad about his childhood friend remembering their past together, but now wasn't the time to tell her that he was the one that she had saved, but he now knew it was coming soon. But first, they had to becoming closer.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Orihime woke up on Monday morning feeling very anxious. After yelling at Ulquiorra, the rest of their study session had gone by awkwardly and silently. She was still angry at Ulquiorra but she was also confused. Why was he smiling at her after she had yelled at him? Was it to show her that he didn't care if he had upset her? Or was it because he was actually happy that she was angry at him because he felt as if she would leave him alone after? Either way, Orihime decided that from now on their encounters would be exclusively focused on their project and nothing more. After their project is over, she will go back to never talking to him. The girl started replaying what had happened in her head. She felt as if he was playing with her and it angered her. "_Oh well, I only have to deal with it for one more week and it's all over."_

After making a deadly concoction for breakfast, the amber haired girl headed out the door to go to school. During her walk to school, she met up with Tatsuki and decided to tell her best friend her problems with Ulquiorra. She told her all about how confusing Ulquiorra is and how at times it seems like he can at least put up with her, but then all of the sudden seem so hateful towards her. She also told her about how unfair everything is when it comes to him.

"Wow," Tatsuki started, "I'm surprised I'm talking to you about boy problems that aren't involving Ichigo! But Ulquiorra is such a douche, I'll kill him for talking to you like that!"

"It's okay, Tatsuki!" Orihime replied. "I've already decided on what I was going to do!"

"And what is that?"

"Well, I only have to talk to him about our project together! I've been trying to talk to him about other things and attempting to get him to be my friend but now I don't think I even _want _to be friends with him! So from now on, I'm done with him unless it's about the project! I'm not going to let a grouch like him kill my mood!"

Stepping into the classroom, something she saw did happen to kill her mood, and it wasn't Ulquiorra. It was a very quick exchange between Ichigo and Rukia. A short kiss. Orihime stood in the door frame fazed by what she saw, her eyes wide. She knew that the two had something special, but the kiss was so sudden. Tatsuki whipped her head towards her best friend, worried.

"…I was going to tell you, Hime… They made it official on Saturday…" she said.

Orihime simply stared at the couple, then looked at Tatsuki with a sad smile and teary eyes. "It's okay, Tatsuki. They are very cute together… I guess I just wish I could be the one to make him that happy…" Just like that, a tear silently rolled down the girl's cheek.

Ulquiorra watched from the back of the classroom as Orihime quickly excused herself and ran out of the classroom. He supposed she had gone to the bathroom to wipe away her tears. The boy glanced over at the new couple. He would have been blind and stupid if he did not notice Orihime's feelings towards Ichigo. Almost everybody in school saw it. All except Ichigo and Rukia. "_Such foolishness executed by such trash." _He continued to stare in disgust. "_Why would the onna hold such feelings for an idiot like that?" _ Looking back towards the door, he waited for Orihime to return.

Back in the bathroom, Orihime and Tatsuki stood in one of the stalls while the karate lover hugged her best friend dearly and smoothed out her hair. "I'm going to kill Ichigo!" she exclaimed.

"No, Tatsuki, it's okay." Orihime said backing out of the hug and rubbing her eyes. "Sure, it is sad to see them together, but their happiness is more important than my sadness. They really are cute together!"

Tatsuki gave her best friend a pitiful smile and said, "Their happiness is not more important than your happiness, Orihime. Don't ever think that your feelings aren't important or valid, because they are!"

The two girls hugged once more and started to laugh as they exited the bathroom. Entering the classroom, they took their seats and waited for the lecture to begin. Orihime tried to pay attention but she couldn't help but stare sadly at Ichigo. She was happy that her dear friends were happy, but that doesn't erase the fact that Orihime loved Ichigo. Ulquiorra stared at the orange haired girl with something that felt like sympathy. "_Foolish, I do not care for her feelings. It is her own fault for holding such feelings towards trash like that."_

* * *

><p>Finally, the bell for lunch rang, however, Orihime wasn't up to sitting with her friends on the roof today. Although she was going to accept her friends' relationship, she wasn't able to face it head on yet. She needed time. So, she told her friends that she needed to catch up on her studying and was going to eat lunch in the library. Arriving at the library, she sat at one of the tables and pulled out one of the newer romance novels she was starting to get into. She read all about how the popular jock starting to fall in love with the nerdy girl after some tutoring lessons. After about 34 pages, she felt herself falling asleep. It was futile for her to try and stay awake considering she only got about four hours of sleep last night due to her thinking about a certain black haired classmate of hers. Thus, she fell asleep with her head resting on one of the tables.<p>

Across the room at one of the other tables, Ulquiorra watched Orihime drift into slumber. "_How foolish. Does she not know that class is about to begin?" _Sitting up from the table, he walked over to where she was sitting. He was about to wake her up, but after staring at her sleeping face, he couldn't pull himself to do it. So instead, he sat down across from her and grabbed the book she was reading. Looking at the cover, he deemed it as a terrible book, but if she liked it, he decided he would give it a try.

* * *

><p>Orihime woke up, yawned, stretched, and then rubbed her eyes. "Ahh, that was such a great nap! I really needed it!"<p>

"So you are finally awake?"

The girl jumped in her seat, startled by the familiar voice. "U-Ulquiorra? What are you doing in my room?"

The boy sighed, thinking that this was just like the time they were both locked in the library. Once again, he decided to let her figure it out.

"Wait a second!" she cried out. "This is the library!"

"Obviously," he replied, deadpanned as ever.

"I fell asleep during lunch! What time is it!? We have to get to class!"

"Onna, school is over. It has been over for almost an hour. Unless you want to be stuck here overnight again, come with me."

"Where are we going?"

"My house."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Why are we going to your house?" Orihime asked. The two were sitting in the library after Orihime had fallen asleep reading her book and Ulquiorra had watched her.

"Obviously to work on our project. Do not think that I am just inviting you into my home because I want to spend time with you." Ulquiorra asked, hitting yet another nerve with the girl. She stood up and started to walk away from him but he started to follow her.

"I can't right now. I work in 25 minutes. And don't worry Schiffer, I wouldn't dare think that from some grouch like you."

The boy smirked and said, "Good. I will wait for you then."

"Wait for me? I work a four hour shift today!"

"That does not matter. Where is it that you work?"

"That is none of your business. We are exclusively partners for our school project, that's it. Nothing more. You don't have to know where I work."

"Fine, I will have to just follow you then."

Orihime stopped walking and turned around to look him in the face. "Why do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"At times you act as if you hate me and then out of nowhere you act like you want to get to know me!"

"Let's hurry up now. You do not want to be late for work."

The girl sighed and continued walking in silence. Today was already a bad day for her, she wasn't in the mood to deal with Ulquiorra's confusing personality. She was going to go to work and bake the best damn cupcakes she's ever made and smile the fakest smile she could fake. Arriving at the bakery, Orihime left her little follower and went into the back and changed into her uniform. It was nothing special, just a white frilly apron over a short pink dress. The only part that stood out was the cupcake hat that she had to wear- Orihime didn't mind it much, in fact she actually thought it was cute. Assuming her spot at the register, she began to take peoples orders. She would then go to the kitchen and begin to make the pastries. Once everything slowed down a bit, she remembered that Ulquiorra had come into the store with her. Looking around, she found him sitting at a table in the back corner.

"Do you know that guy?" one of Orihime's coworkers asked.

"Oh! Yeah, that's Ulquiorra! He's my partner for my project at school!" Orihime answered.

"Well you might want to tell him to buy something before the boss sees him. He hates loiterers."

Orihime decided to take her up on her warning and walked over to Ulquiorra. "Hello sir," she started, "what can I get for you today?"

"Onna, I am not hungry nor would I want to eat anything from here." Ulquiorra replied. "Your hat looks ridiculous. Remove it at once."

"I'm sorry sir, to be in here you must buy something! And I am also sorry to inform you that this hat is very cute and you just have terrible fashion sense."

"Is the frosting in your hair also a part of your fashion sense?"

Orihime's face grew red as she grabbed her hair, inspecting it for any frosting. "I don't see any frosting!" Just then she heard a grumbling noise. "That's funny, it wasn't me for once!" She looked down at Ulquiorra. "Wait a second, was that your stomach?" Realizing that it was him, she couldn't contain her laughter.

Ulquiorra simply glared at her and said, "I will have one vanilla cupcake and that is it. Make it quick."

"Yeah, yeah."

Orihime went to the back of the kitchen and pulled out a vanilla cupcake that was already cooked before. All she had to do was put frosting on it. Pulling out the vanilla frosting, she covered his cupcake with the contents. After she finished, she decided to put some rainbow sprinkles and to draw a smiley face in green icing on top. Pleased with how it turned out, she then went to go deliver it to its lucky customer. Placing it in front of the stoic boy, she watched his face for any reaction. He simply stared at it with a bored expression. Finally, he took one scoop of the frosting with his finger and ate it. What happened next was completely unexpected to Orihime. The boy stood up with the cupcake, turned to face her, snatched the cupcake hat off of her head, and quickly smeared the cupcake's frosting into her hair. Orihime let out a shriek and looked at Ulquiorra completely confused.

"Earlier you said you did not see the frosting in your hair. There it is," he simply stated.

"Did… Did you just… wipe frosting in my hair?" Orihime asked, completely stunned. He simply nodded his head once. "Oh it's on, Schiffer. I'll get you back for this. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow. But I'll get you back." She then snatched the cupcake hat back and gave the most mischievous smile she could muster up and walked back to the kitchen to wash her hair. Ulquiorra was left with a smirk on his face, thinking he was quite victorious.

* * *

><p>"Your idea for the project is completely ridiculous and we are not doing it." Ulquiorra said. The two partners were sitting on his bed after work.<p>

"I think having a musical would be a great idea! Why do you get to decide if we do it or not!?" Orihime replied pouting.

"We are simply going to be doing an oral presentation in which you will do most of the talking."

"Why do I have to do all the work!?"

"Enough. It has been decided."

Orihime crossed her arms and huffed. "Control freak," she mumbled.

"Enough of your babbling. Are you hungry, onna?"

"Now that you mention it, I guess I am a little hungry."

"Stay here. I will go get you something to eat."

"Alright!"

Once he left, Orihime looked around the room. It was just as tidy as last time. She went and sat at his desk. It had many drawers and a nice computer on it. Being the curious girl she is, she decided to look in the drawers. The top one had a bunch of school supplies, the next one had some chargers, and the next one had some random stuff. Opening the last drawer on the bottom, she found nothing but a tiny box. She grabbed it carefully out of the drawer and inspected it. The box itself was very pretty. Orihime shrugged her shoulders and decided to open it. Her curiosity got to her. She started to lift the lid off the top when Ulquiorra returned with food.

"What are you doing, onna?" he said before she could open it.

Orihime whipped around holding the box in her hand and answered, "Oh! Ulquiorra! I was just uhh… I'm sorry. I started to look around your room while you were gone and I found this pretty box and I wanted to see what was inside of it. I'm sorry for being nosy-"

"Did you see it?"

"Huh?"

"Did you see it?"

"No I didn't, I swear!"

Ulquiorra sighed. He put her plate of food- crackers, cheese, and ham- onto the desk and looked back at her. "Did you want to?"

Orihime stared into his beautiful, dark green eyes. She saw sincerity in them and she looked back down at the box. She could tell that something important was inside of it. "There is something special to you inside of this box, isn't there?" The boy simply nodded. "Then why are you showing it to me? We've barely known each other and from the time that we spent together, I've learned that you hate me and-"

"I do not hate you. I could never hate you, especially since you have changed my life so drastically."

Orihime tried to contain the butterflies and the blush that was quickly spreading throughout her face. "What do you… What do you mean?"

Ulquiorra stepped closer and placed his hands over hers on the box. Their faces were mere inches away. Slipping the box out of her hand, he said to the girl, "I will show you what is in this box some other time. For now, onna, it is time to continue working on our project. We have 4 days left to complete it."

Orihime blinked once, then twice; then she let out a groan. "How am I supposed to concentrate on school when I am dying of curiosity right now?"

"Figure it out."

Sighing, the girl opened her book giving one last glance at the boy that she believed was finally starting to warm up to her. "_I guess I can wait a little longer to see what's in that box."_

**Author's Note: **Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review!


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Orihime laughed, bringing the attention of everybody around her. Glancing her way, they were surprised to see that she was laughing next to none other than Ulquiorra Schiffer. Something that he had said or done must have made her laugh; a laugh that filled the room with its beautiful sound. What could that grouch say to her that could make her laugh so hard that tears came to her eyes? Boys looked at him in deadly glares, angry that he was on the receiving end of Orihime's attention. Any guy would kill for the school's princess to act the way she was acting with them. Tatsuki noticed her best friend's behavior and was expectedly confused. The girl was just telling her about how rude he was to her and how she wanted nothing to do with him. Ichigo and the others stared at the couple tensely. The two of them hanging out, laughing over something not related to the project was not something that they had wanted.

"Oh, Ulquiorra! Who knew you could be this funny?" Orihime rhetorically asked, wiping tears from her eyes.

"Onna, I do not recall saying anything funny. I simply stated that being here was draining away my good mood," the boy replied, not able to remove his eyes from her laughing face. Her laugh used to annoy him to no end whenever he heard her laughing at something Kurosaki or the others had said, but hearing her laugh at something he said- although he didn't quite understand it- brought a warm feeling to his chest.

"Exactly! You are never in a 'good mood' to begin with!" she cackled.

"Class is starting now, take your seats," said their teacher with a bored expression on her face.

Orihime looked back at Ulquiorra and smiled gently and warmly at him. She then gave a cute little wave and walked back to her seat. Ulquiorra's eyes followed her walking away until he noticed some of his other classmates eyeing her like a piece of meat. They looked at her long, slender, creamy legs up to her nice and voluptuous rear. Then they followed it upward to her petite waist up until her nice and huge rack. Once the boy realized that he too couldn't help but look, he shook his head and looked around the room at the ravenous boys. He wanted to destroy each and every one of them, which confused him because normally he would not care about what anyone was looking at or thinking. He did not care about who had sex with who- though the activity did disgust him. But when he looked at Orihime, he couldn't help but want to do many of the things that the other boys in the room also wanted to do with her. Suddenly, he felt a tingling in the lower region of his body and he cursed at himself inwardly for being weak and like a disgusting beast like the rest of the boys in his class.

Orihime made it the whole way back to her seat completely unaware of the staring taking place. Sitting down, she began to listen to the lecture until she deemed it too boring and stared out the window. The girl stared at the birds flying around and at the trees swaying in the wind. It was a pretty chilly day despite the warm weather that had recently been occurring.

"_Fall must be coming soon. Of course I forgot to bring a jacket on a day like this! Kurosaki-kun and the others are probably still going to go on the roof for lunch. I guess I'll just have to rub my arms really fast to keep myself warm!" _she thought.

Eventually, the bell for lunch rang and the students immediately filed out of the classroom. Orihime was about to follow in pursuit to her normal spot on the roof while Ichigo and the others happily waited for her when Ulquiorra came up beside her.

"Onna, you are mine. Come with me," he said, gazing directly into her big, beautiful gray eyes.

Trying her hardest to suppress the shade of pink that was quickly overcoming her face, she asked, "Where are we going?"

"To eat."

"You want to eat lunch together and work on the project now?"

"Who said anything about working on the project? I simply said that we are going to eat, onna. Now cease your rambling and come with me."

The girl looked towards Ichigo and the others- who were waiting for her expectantly and worriedly and then back at Ulquiorra. She knew that her new friend would hate to eat with the rest of her friends and that her friends would feel uncomfortable with him. Thus, she was forced to choose between one or the other. Ulquiorra understood quickly what the worried expression on her face was for.

"Onna, go with your friends," he said after a sigh.

Orihime sadly nodded and slowly began to walk to her friends. Once she approached them, she said sweetly, "I'm going to eat with Ulquiorra today! I'll see you guys after lunch!" Ulquiorra stared at her, stunned that she had picked him over her friends- especially that damned Kurosaki. "I decided I wanted to eat with you today instead."

The boy could feel his face heating up, so he quickly stared at the window while she looked at him confused. Once his heart rate lowered and he was calm again, he averted his gaze back into her eyes and took hold of her dainty wrist. "We shall be eating outside today."

"Oh, can we eat in here actually? I wasn't expecting it to be this chilly today so I didn't bring a jacket."

Ulquiorra sighed as he walked back to his desk to grab his bag. Once he did, he pulled out a black hoodie. "Wear this, onna."

Blushing, she accepted the sweater and put it on. It was a little too big for her but she didn't mind. Noticing that it smelt just like him, she unconsciously took in a deep breath, inhaling the nature-like aroma. The sleeves were a bit long for her arms, making her look insanely cute to those who were lucky enough to see her. Ulquiorra looked her over once more, finding himself to be enjoying how she looked in his hoodie. Just the thought of her in it made the warm feeling in his chest return. Gently grasping her wrist, he then led her to his favorite spot on campus. It was on a bench far from the school but still technically on school grounds and was under a large oak tree. It was a beautiful and relaxing spot.

"So, Ulquiorra…" Orihime began, "I was wondering if maybe… maybe you would like to…"

"Onna, hurry up."

"Do you want to do something after school?" the girl squeaked, a deep shade of red darkening her face.

Ulquiorra stared at her amused and inquired, "Like what, onna?"

"Oh. I don't know I didn't really think about that! We are doing pretty well on our project and since it's due Friday and it's only Tuesday today, we have plenty of more time to work on it! I figured that we could just play games or watch movies or go out somewhere!"

The boy smirked and bluntly asked, "Onna, are you asking me out on a _date?"_

Orihime's face flushed red and she instantly became flustered and started to stutter. "Oh, I uhh, I mean, no! I-It's just that I wanted to uhh, spend time w-with you! B-but not in that kind of-"

"I was simply teasing, onna."

The girl blushed more and playfully nudged his shoulder. They began to eat their food in a comfortable silence, occasionally starting a conversation. Soon, lunch ended and the couple began to walk back to class together- closer than usual that their arms brushed each other a couple of times. Suddenly, one of the jocks bumped into Orihime and knocked her down to the floor due to their indoor football game commencing in the hallway. The jock tried to apologize to her as soon as it happened but in an instant he found himself hung on the wall by the collar, Ulquiorra looking angrier than ever.

Orihime pulled herself off the ground and looked at the two boys in shock. "U-Ulquiorra! Let go of him! It's okay! It was just an accident!"

The boy looked back at her and then the piece of trash he was holding. "Are you hurt, onna?"

"Let go of me!" the jock cried as he pushed Ulquiorra off of him and managed to land a punch on him. The orange haired beauty behind him let of a quick shriek and covered her mouth in surprise. Ulquiorra slowly turned his head back to the boy, anger showing clearly in his eyes. He slowly approached the boy- who now looked as if he was about to pee his pants- and stood right in front of him. Then, out of nowhere, his fist sent the jock to the floor. Ulquiorra returned his hand to his pocket.

"Do not hurt the onna again you disgusting filth."

Ulquiorra grabbed Orihime's hand and led her through the crowd of surprised spectators and back into the classroom. Setting her back into her seat, Ulquiorra asked her again if she was hurt.

"I-I think I might get a bruise but that's it… You didn't have to do that for me, Ulquiorra…"

"He could have hurt you, onna. I could not just let him get away without a punishment."

The girl smiled gently at him, knowing that he had good intentions for her. "What happened to not caring about my wellbeing?"

Ulquiorra stood confused. He was unsure of the answer to that question as well. "I do not know. All I know is that you are…" He racked his brain for the right word. "Interesting."

Orihime blushed and looked down at her feet. "_Why can't I stop blushing when I'm around Ulquiorra?" _she thought as she took a whiff of Ulquiorra's nature-like scent from the jacket that she was still happily wearing.

**Author's Note: **I love this couple so much and it is fun writing them! Because I completely forgot to post a chapter on Monday, I'll post another chapter tonight!


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note: **As promised before, here is the next chapter! Enjoy!

Chapter 9

After school that Tuesday, Orihime nervously walked alongside Ulquiorra to her house. She had invited him to hang out but she never anticipated what they were going to do. Thus, she walked next to her classmate in an awkward silence while she racked her brain for an activity to do. Her house was not exactly the most fun place in Karakura town, her friends just enjoyed having their sleepovers there because there were no adults present.

"Onna," Ulquiorra started, breaking the ice, "your older brother is fine with me coming over, is he not?"

Orihime's head jerked towards him and asked, "How do you know I had an older brother?"

"You _had_ an older brother?"

The girl looked deeply into his eyes- a confused look on his face. She gave him a sad glance and looked back ahead nodding her head. "Yes, _had. _He passed away." Ulquiorra's eyes widened at the news. He then felt regret for asking about it- pity masking his face. The orange haired beauty smiled gently at him and reassuringly said, "Don't worry, Ulquiorra. It's okay. I know Sora is in a better place now!"

The boy simply nodded and they continued their walk to her house. He knew that her older brother had meant a lot to her from their fateful encounter when they were kids and knowing that he was gone made him feel sympathetic towards her. Ulquiorra was confused by this, for he never felt this way for anyone. He did not care at all about anybody's sadness and he hated everybody. But this girl was different. She sparked so many different and new feelings in his body, it was overwhelming. Finally, the duo made it to her apartment. It was definitely _much _smaller than his house- understandably- and it made him wonder what occupation her parents held. Entering her apartment, he quickly detected that nobody was home.

"So… What should we do?" the girl asked, suddenly embarrassed about inviting him over and having nothing to do.

"Onna, where are your parents?" Ulquiorra asked, then noticing her sudden change of attitude.

"Uhh… That is a good question!"

The boy furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Explain."

"When I was younger, my older brother Sora took me and we ran away from our parents! They were abusive and always drunk, nowhere near a suitable living area for us!"

"So who do you live with?"

"...I live by myself I guess."

Ulquiorra was more than shocked. "How do you sustain by yourself?"

"I have my job at the bakery and my aunt pays for the apartment as long as I have good grades!"

"Do you not get lonely?"

"…No! My friends visit me all the time!"

"I see right through your lies, onna."

The amber haired girl sighed. "I guess it does get a little lonely sometimes…"

Ulquiorra stared at her in discomfort. The boy could not stop saying things that upset her. He looked around for a distraction. Finally, he spotted the TV in the living room. "Onna. Movie."

Orihime was instantly distracted and she graced him with a large smile that could brighten anyone's day. She walked over into the living room- him following, taking a seat on the sofa- and turned on the TV, skimming through for something to watch. "I only have romantic comedies," she said, holding them up for him to see.

"I do not care for what we watch, just pick something."

"Hmm… Aha! We can watch _From Prada to Nada! _It's about these two wealthy sisters whose dad dies and they lose all their money! So they move in with their not-so-wealthy relatives and find love! It's so cute and romantic!"

She put the movie in the DVD player and flicked off the lights. She sat beside Ulquiorra, their thighs touching. The boy was aware of this unlike the girl, and the small action instantly made his chest warm. He stared at the sudden contact uncomfortably. He knew that there was something that he was fond of about it, but he was still thrown off by the sudden change of their proximity. The girl then noticed Ulquiorra staring at something so she followed his glance down to their touching thighs. Immediately, she scooted herself to the far end of the couch with a very apparent blush on her face. Displeased by her reaction, he turned his gaze back towards the TV watching the beginning.

After almost two hours of sitting uncomfortably, Ulquiorra woke up. He had fallen asleep sitting straight up watching the movie that he deemed ridiculous and unlikely. He had stayed up to watch the part where the pretty girl had chosen the strange boy and decided that was unrealistic and unlikely. There was absolutely no way something like that would happen. Glancing at where the onna was previously sitting, he was shocked to see that she was no longer there. Worry rose in the boy as he whipped his head in all directions, aiming to find a hint of beautiful, orange hair. Suddenly feeling a strange weight on his thigh, he looked down to see the beautiful girl asleep in his lap. The warm feeling that he had felt during their other encounters was nothing compared to this. It was as if he had a volcano erupt in his stomach along with a swarm of butterflies.

Hair covered the girl's face and Ulquiorra couldn't help himself. He gently and carefully moved the hair and tucked them behind her ear, making sure not to disturb her slumbering peace. He stared at her face, taking in all of her beautiful qualities: her wonderful cheekbones, plump lips, long eyelashes, and her long mane of gorgeous, orange hair. Ulquiorra always knew that she was a very good looking person, but it wasn't until their encounter in the library that he finally realized just how beautiful she really was, but tonight was different. He was up close and personal now. He cautiously raised a slender finger and rubbed her cheek, feeling how soft and smooth her skin was. Feeling her slightly twitch, he quickly retracted his hand. Noticing she was back sound asleep, he realized that he too was very tired. Checking the time, he saw that it was 5:03 PM. "_I have plenty of time to relax before I must leave." _Leaning his head back to relax, he quickly dozed off into sleep to enjoy yet another dream about a certain amber haired girl.

* * *

><p>"Where am I?" Orihime asked to no one in particular, glancing around the white room she was in. It was devoid of everything; no couch, bed, table, or any color to stand out against the blankness of the room. There wasn't even a door for her to exit. Fear and anxiety grew inside of her, along with curiosity. Finally, she heard something. A laugh. It was no other laugh though. It was a laugh that she hadn't heard in years, a laugh that brought tears to her eyes as she whipped her head around to see who it was. It was none other than her big brother, Sora.<p>

"Hello, Orihime," he greeted with his usual warm smile. Expectantly, the girl ran into his arms, sobbing into his blue jacket.

"W-What are you doing here!?"

"I am merely visiting you."

"I-I missed you so much… I love my friends and they are all dear to me but… it has been so lonely without you, Sora. I have to update you with everything!"

"You don't need to, Orihime. I have been watching over you since the moment I died."

Orihime shuddered. "Please don't say it like that, Sora. I don't like the thought of you… _dying. _I always told myself that you were just leaving. It would calm me down a bit, but nothing ever really helped."

"That is where you are wrong, Orihime," Sora said with his signature smile.

"What do you mean?" the girl asked, looking into his eyes with confusion.

"Your friends have helped you through this time. All of them. Sado, Uryu, Rukia, Ichigo, and Tatsuki. Even that girl that is overly-touchy. What is her name again? Oh yes, Chizuru. They are all your friends and all of them have helped you by giving you happiness. Along with your newest friend."

Orihime's face grew a faint shade of pink. Although she knew who he was talking about, she decided to play dumb. "W-Who are you talking about?"  
>Sora laughed, bringing happy warmth to Orihime's heart. "Ulquiorra, silly. You two are getting very close!"<p>

Now her face was growing darker by the second. "We are just friends!"

"I never suspecting anything else, my darling sister. So tell me, why exactly are you sleeping with your head on his thigh?"

"Sleeping with my head on his-?"

Just like that, the girl awoke. "_Of course it was a dream. It was just too good to be true." _She opened her eyes and yawned. Feeling that her head was on top of something, she looked down and noticed what looked like the cloth from a boy's uniform. Moving her head up to follow the pants to meet the face of the person wearing them, she felt her heart speeding and her face growing red with each second. Finally, her eyes landed on Ulquiorra's peacefully sleeping face. "U-Ulquiorra!?"

The boy slowly opened his eyes to look at the confused girl in front of him. "Good morning, onna."


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: **This chapter took me so long to finish because I just couldn't figure out how I wanted to write it and I kept erasing parts and I finally finished it. Hopefully its good, but in my opinion it is just boring haha. Hopefully you enjoy!

Chapter 10

"U-Ulquiorra!? What are you doing here!?" Orihime asked, pulling herself off of him.

The boy sighed and answered, "It seems that we have both fallen asleep last night after watching that completely ridiculous movie."

"Ridiculous? That movie was cute and great! Anyways, why didn't you wake me up? I could've went into my bed and you could've relaxed on the couch!"

"I did not want to disturb you."

Orihime sighed and got up from the couch. "Wait, what time is it!?"

"Around 8:30."

"We are late for school! I need to go get ready!"

With that, the girl ran into her room and Ulquiorra could hear her shower being turned on. He then sighed and got up. Leaving her apartment, he made sure to close the door behind him. He then walked back to his house to get ready for a long day of school.

* * *

><p>After hearing the front door shut, Orihime jumped into the shower. Letting the warm water run over her body, she began to think about what had happened. "<em>Ulquiorra just s-spent the night! He didn't do anything to me either, which I'm sure plenty of other guys in our school would've done. He really is a good guy. Now both of us are late to school again. People are going to start to think things are going on between us!" <em>Finally, she shut the water off and quickly dried herself off and threw her uniform off. Deciding she didn't have time for breakfast, she sped out of the door towards school- unaware that she had forgotten to brush her hair.

"Sorry I'm late, sensei!" Orihime said after being hit by yet another piece of chalk. When she had gotten to school, she was only somewhat shocked that Ulquiorra managed to once again beat her to school. "_Does he not get ready at all?"_

"Why were you late?" the teacher inquired.

"I uhh…" Figuring that it wasn't a good idea to tell the entire class that Ulquiorra and her were late because she spent the night at her apartment, she decided to just answer saying, "I slept in!"

"Along with Schiffer?"

Orihime's face instantly turned into a deep shade of red. "W-What do you mean?"

"Schiffer was late to class too because he also slept in."

"What a, uhh, strange coincidence!"

The girl could feel the entire class glancing between her and Ulquiorra. Just like the time they were locked in the library, she heard the same embarrassing questions. The boy just sighed and gave his normal, unfazed and unamused look.

"Alright, just take your seat now, Inoue."

The girl practically did a walk of shame to her seat, feeling guilty. The class knew there was some type of connection of the two both coming to class late, and the truth itself was embarrassing enough. Ulquiorra watched her, completely aware of how she was feeling. The lecture resumed and Orihime buried her head in her arms in a sign of shame.

* * *

><p>"Orihime, wake up!" The orange haired girl groggily opened her eyes and looked up at who was awakening her. It was none other than her best friend Tatsuki. "It's time for lunch!" Orihime slowly got up, still sleepy from her nap. The karate lover looked more closely at her friend's face and realized that there was a slight blush on it. "Why are you blushing, Hime?"<p>

This quickly snapped Orihime out of her sleepiness and her face became redder. "Oh, uhh, I don't know! It's time for lunch, let's head to the roof now!" Walking away, she felt Tatsuki's hand firmly, but not too tightly to hurt her, grab hold of her wrist.

"Nope. You are all mine today, Hime."

"Huh?"

The orange haired girl then found herself being dragged out of the classroom by her best friend. Leading Orihime to a shady tree on the far side of the school, Tatsuki let go of her hand and looked her in the face. "Be honest with me, Hime," she started. "What's going on between you and Schiffer?"

"N-Nothing is going on between me and Ulquiorra!"

"Orihime you don't have to lie to me!" The girl rubbed her arm awkwardly and kept her eyes glued to the ground. "Just tell me the truth, Hime. We don't lie to each other."

"You wouldn't like what I would have to say…"

"You won't know that until you tell me."

Orihime sighed and faced her best friend. She was right; they don't keep secrets from each other. Tatsuki had been her best friend, and for a long time her only friend. She always helped her with every problem that she had, especially Ichigo problems. Not only that but she felt the most comfortable around her. She didn't feel like she had to hide her true feelings. Tatsuki dragged Orihime out of the loneliness after Sora's death and introduced her to many- if not all- of her friends. She knew that she had to tell her friend the truth. "I don't know… We are just getting a lot closer than I expected…"

"Do you like him?"

Orihime blushed and recalled the reason she was blushing after she was woken from her nap in school. She had a dream about Ulquiorra and her _together. _They did many couple things like holding hands, hugging, and even kissing. "I-I don't know. I don't think so… No! I can't like him! I love Kurosaki-kun!"

"Are you sure about that, Hime? If that's so, why don't you refer to him as _Ichigo _instead of Kurosaki-kun?"

"I-It's for respect!"

"You may not like Schiffer, but I don't think you love Ichigo either," the girl said, smiling gently at her friend. "But I'm still pretty sure you like the guy. Schiffer, I mean."

"That's not possible."

"When was the last time you thought of Ichigo in that kind of way?"

"…Uhh… Maybe…" Thinking about it, Orihime realized that she hadn't thought of him in that way during that past week. The only person she had thought about was the same person she was having dreams about. "Oh god, I don't even remember."

"I'm sorry, Hime, but it was never love. It was just a simple crush!"

"You are right, Tatsuki! But you are wrong about Ulquiorra. We are just friends."

"For now, yeah, you are."

Orihime sighed and then let out a giggle. The bell then rang and the two girls walked with hooked elbows back to the classroom. Entering the room, Orihime unconsciously looked towards the back of the classroom for Ulquiorra. Surprised and disappointed, she realized that the boy she was looking for wasn't there yet. "_He must've went home early."_

* * *

><p>"Grimmjow, the bell has rung. It is time to return, idiot."<p>

"Shut up, emo ass. Where were you last night?"

"It is none of your concern."

"Was it the princess' house?"

"Grimmjow, stop questioning me."

"You and I both know that's not going to happen."

Ulquiorra sighed, knowing he was right. "You will not speak of this to anyone, do you understand?" The blue haired boy nodded and grinned. "I was at her house. We did not engage in any sexual activities, we simply watched a movie and fell asleep."

"You guys didn't have sex!? What a waste of time!"

Ulquiorra simply walked away, leading them to the classroom. "It was no waste of time, Grimmjow."

"So are you gonna tell her yet? Tell her that you are that pathetic kid she stood up for?"

"Not yet. Soon."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Orihime woke up feeling a little sad. It was Thursday morning. The project that she had been working on with Ulquiorra was due tomorrow. She figured that once the project was over, the two would never speak again. This surprisingly upset her far more than she had anticipated it would. She gloomily entered the shower completely unmotivated to participate in anything. In the short time she spent with him, the girl realized how interesting and complex he was. One complication of their friendship was the fact that people thought there was something more to it. Something involving love.

"_There's no way I love Ulquiorra! He's just a friend…" _Orihime thought while she let the warm water run over her body. "_But… why would I have a dream of us… kissing? It doesn't make sense at all!" _The girl then turned the water off and stood in place thinking to herself. "_Even if I did like him, it wouldn't matter anyways. He would never like somebody as loud and obnoxious as me. Once this project ends, he'll be happy he won't have to deal with me anymore and he'll forget I even existed."_

* * *

><p>Entering the classroom, Ulquiorra glanced around for a certain orange haired girl and walked to his seat after noticing that she wasn't there. He usually always beat her- along with many of his other, irrelevant classmates- but he was never able to shrug off the urge of looking around for her. Orihime had always been an important part in his life. Even when they hadn't talked for years, he would never forget how she helped him. Ulquiorra couldn't help but want to hurry up and tell Orihime just how much she had helped him.<p>

_FLASHBACK_

"Ulquiorra, hurry up and say your goodbyes."

The small, dark haired child slowly walked over to the cold, marble stone. Looking inside the coffin, he could not hold back the tears falling from his eyes as he stared into the lifeless face of his mother. The tears fell from his eyes and landed onto her pale skin. Her dark hair was neatly to the side of her as her hands were placed onto her stomach. Flowers were piling on top of her stomach as grieving people were saying their goodbyes. Placing one white rose on his mother, the kid started to whimper and he slowly knelt on the ground to cry. Everyone watched with pity and sympathetic frowns.

"Ulquiorra! Get up!" The child looked to face his father. The man had also clearly shed tears but his posture had remained firm and professional. "You are not to show any weakness, Ulquiorra. I did not raise you to be like this! You will get up and you will never disgrace me again by showing your tears!" Ulquiorra got up and wiped his tears away. The two of them then walked and sat in the front to continue on with the service.

Approximately four months later, his father had remarried a younger woman, much to Ulquiorra's dissatisfaction. Since his mother's death, his father rarely spoke to him, and when he did, they were mainly commands. There was no love left after his mother's passing, not even for his new wife, which to him was more like a business matter. The couple had two kids since then, both going to a prestige private school. They were both twins- one boy one girl- with light brown hair and brown eyes. It was obvious that they were not fully related to Ulquiorra. Ulquiorra was an outsider inside and beyond his household. He only sees his siblings while he is walking to get food or passing in the halls, but all that was exchanged when they were kids were just awkward glances. All three are old enough now that they simply pretend that they do not exist. The woman his father married detests Ulquiorra and has tried to have him removed from the house many times. As a compromise, his father agreed to having Ulquiorra's room on the opposite side of their huge house, away from everyone else, further proving the point that Ulquiorra is just an outsider.

The boy's favorite part of town to go to, although he was never welcome, was the park. One fateful day, after being yelled and glared at by his wicked stepmother, he went to the park and cried. He missed his mother very much and he felt that his life was completely useless. He was nothing. That is, until Orihime defended him. After that the boy grew up some more and met Grimmjow, who toughened him up even more. Since that fateful day at the park, Ulquiorra wasn't just a child crying all the time that tears stained his face. He was now a boy with a thick shield of armor around him. Although it keeps most people out, it also keeps him from getting hurt. People didn't relentlessly bully him anymore. No, they only talked about him behind his back, which is the most common activity for teenagers.

_END OF FLASHBACK_

When Ulquiorra finally saw Orihime enter the classroom, his heart skipped a beat. "_Finally, onna." _The girl quickly glanced at him and gave a shy smile and sat in her seat. He instantly knew something was wrong. "_Foolish girl cannot even hide her feelings at all."_

* * *

><p>Once the bell rang for lunch, Ulquiorra walked towards Orihime. Standing in front of her and gaining her attention, he simply stared at her, silently implying to follow him. Finally understanding what the boy wanted, Orihime grabbed her coat and followed him out the door to their special spot. The entire walk there, the orange haired girl couldn't help but be moody. Ulquiorra sighed and playfully nudged her.<p>

"Hey, what was that for?" Orihime asked, nudging him back.

"That was for the way you have been acting," Ulquiorra answered, sitting on the bench.

"The way I've been acting?"

"Sad."

"Oh…"

"Explain what is wrong right now."

Orihime looked at him and said, "You actually care how I'm feeling?"

"…No."

Orihime gave a gentle smile and looked back down at her lap. "Ulquiorra… Do you think that you and I will still be friends after all of this?"

Ulquiorra's eyes widened in the slightest way as he gazed at her face. "What do you mean?"

"Well… the only reason we've been talking is because of this assignment. I don't want us to stop talking after this… I want us to still be friends! I want us to talk every day and hang out after school and eat lunch here together! I want to know more about you and know what makes you happy and what makes you sad! I don't want this to stop…" Orihime hadn't even realized the tears flowing from her eyes when they first appeared, but when she finally noticed that, she was mortified. "I-I'm sorry! I don't know why I'm crying!"

Ulquiorra just stared at her in shock. Finally, he lifted one arm and wiped the tears from her face. Then, he gently stated, "There is no need to worry, onna. I am nowhere near done with you. I am entrapped by you."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Orihime Inoue woke up that Friday morning anxious. This was no ordinary Friday. This was the day of their presentation. She knew that the two of them would probably get better grades than most of the class- besides Uryu and Chad- because along with Uryu, the three of them were the top students. But this did not stop her from being anxious about doing something like speaking in front of the entire class with Ulquiorra. Their project was about World War 2 and they had created a poster for it and gathered many facts to recite in front of the class, but they did not discuss who would say which lines. Not only was she anxious about presenting, but she was also nervous about seeing Ulquiorra.

"_I am nowhere near done with you. I am entrapped by you."_

Those words kept replaying in her mind like a broken record, and each time she thought about it she was greeted with a storm of butterflies in her stomach. The way that he looked into her eyes giving off complete seriousness made her tremble that day as they sat on the bench. Thinking back to it, the girl still got goose bumps.

"_I wonder what he meant by that," _she thought, stepping into the warm water coming from the showerhead. Deciding that she shouldn't keep thinking about what happened, Orihime decided to focus on something else. Thus, she began to sing a popular song she heard on the radio and drown out all of the thoughts about Ulquiorra.

* * *

><p>After getting dressed, Orihime rushed to make herself a quick breakfast. She figured that she should leave early and hope that Ulquiorra was already at school so they could discuss their scripts for the presentation. She picked up a bagel and spread cream cheese on it. "<em>A little boring and plain but it'll have to do." <em>Finally she was putting her shoes on and heading out the door.

As the girl opened the door, she was shocked to see that she had a visitor waiting for her. It was none other than Ichigo.

"Oh! Hello Kurosaki-kun! I wasn't expecting to see you! What brings you here?" she asked, smiling at her dear friend gently but also wanted to rush past him and get to Ulquiorra.

"Hey, Inoue," Ichigo greeted, returning a smile. Then the smile turned into a look of concern. "Look, I wanted to talk to you about Ulquiorra."

"Ulquiorra?"

"Do you like him?" Orihime's eyes widened as she stared into Ichigo's eyes. Her first love was now asking her if she liked somebody else. It felt new and weird to her. The orange haired boy noticed her discomfort and said, "It's alright if you don't want to tell me, Inoue. I just don't want to see you getting hurt."

Orihime's face relaxed and she gave a warm smile. "Thank you, Kurosaki-kun, but you don't have to worry about me! I can take care of myself, silly. And in regards to your question… I don't know… I'm not that experienced in this type of stuff." A blush instantly appeared on the girl's face.

Ichigo laughed. "Don't worry about it, I'm not either. It took me a long time to realize I liked Rukia."

"Oh, definitely. It's just all so confusing! He's confusing! Sometimes he's funny and nice and then the next thing I know he's pushing me away again! It's like taking one step forward and three steps back! He's mysterious, mean, sarcastic, and rude. But at the same time he's nice, caring, funny, and he gives me this tickling feeling in my stomach. It's so confusing Kurosaki-kun." She let out a sigh.

Ichigo let out another laugh and grabbed her book bag and they started walking to school. "Well, I sounds to me like you like him and whether I think he is a douche doesn't matter."

"Do you think he's a bad person?"

Ichigo looked down at her for a brief second, then back in front of them. "I used to. Don't get me wrong I still think he's a dick, but if you like him and see the good in him then he can't be too bad of a person."

"Or maybe I'm naïve."

"Maybe. I'm going to trust your judgment until proven otherwise though."

Finally, the two were at school and entering the classroom with 3 minutes to spare before class. Orihime's eyes quickly scanned for Ulquiorra and found him sitting at his desk. Then she remembered they were supposed to talk about what they were going to say. Orihime gave a quick wave to Ichigo and scurried to Ulquiorra.

"Ulquiorra!" she cried out. "We didn't decide on what we were saying!"

"Why are you late?" Ulquiorra coldly asked.

"Huh? Oh, because I was going to leave early but then Kurosaki came over and-"

"I do not care anymore. Let's begin."

Just as Ulquiorra was opening his mouth to say something, their teacher walked in. "Good morning everyone, take your seats! I hope you guys remembered to do your projects considering I gave you a shit ton of time!"

Orihime looked at Ulquiorra, anxious for their presentation since they didn't have time to plan their script, but the boy would not look at her. He kept his gaze up front. This upset Orihime and she glumly went to her seat. Little did they know that Ichigo was watching their exchange.

"Alright let's see, who's going to go first…" the teacher started.

"_Please don't pick us, please don't pick us, please don't pick us," _Orihime begged in her mind.

"Hmm… How about… Inoue and Schiffer! Get up here and state your topic then present."

"_Of course." _The two got in the front of the class. Standing by Ulquiorra, Orihime could feel anger coming from the boy. "_Did I do something wrong?"_

"Our topic is World War 2," Ulquiorra stated. "This was all started when a man named Hitler from Germany began to rise in power. Some say it goes back to the end of World War 1, which is when Germany's hatred started to develop. Great Britain and France tried a tactic of appeasement with Germany, which did not work at all and is arguably the cause for the war. Hitler then invaded Poland and that is when chaos began."

Ulquiorra went on and on about the events from the second great war. "_I wonder when it's going to be my turn to talk and what facts I'm going to say," _Orihime thought. A few minutes passed while Orihime stood there awkwardly.

"In conclusion…" Ulquiorra began.

"_Wait, in conclusion!? He used up all the facts! What am I supposed to say now!? I'm going to get a bad grade because of this!" _Orihime thought as she looked up at Ulquiorra with wide eyes. It was obvious that Ulquiorra had pretended not to see her staring at him.

"Umm…" the teacher began, "Inoue-san, did you have any facts to contribute to this?"

Orihime looked towards the teacher and then at the floor, her face cherry red. "…No, I don't…"

The whole class wore a look of confusion. How could one of their top students not have anything to offer in a presentation?

"Well, I'm sorry then, I'll have to deduct points from your grade."

"I understand…"

Ulquiorra began to walk to his seat while Orihime stood there watching him, pleading him silently to look at her. When she saw him take seat and stare at the wall to his side, anger masked her face. She walked back to her seat quickly, but stopped once she got to Ichigo's. She looked down at him and said, "To answer your question from earlier, no, I do not like Schiffer-kun." The girl then continued her angry stride to her seat and buried her head in her arms, anger overcoming her.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

"Alright class, it's time for lunch!" the teacher announced.

Orihime lifted her head from her arms. Tatsuki then came over and put her hand on her friend's shoulder.

"How are you, Hime?" the girl asked.

"Terrible."

"Wow, for you to admit it must mean that it's really bad."

"It is."

Ichigo, Rukia, Uryu, and Sado walked over to join in the conversation. "Wanna talk about it upstairs?" Ichigo asked.

The orange haired girl glanced over at Ulquiorra, who happened to be staring off into space, and nodded her head. "Yeah, let's get out of here." She then got up and led the way to their spot on the roof.

* * *

><p>"So I was going to come into school early this morning to talk about the script, but I got distracted and was a little late and when I went to talk to him he was angry for some reason and was being rude! So we didn't have time to discuss it and of course we were chosen to go first and he started saying all of these facts and I figured he would stop and let me say something but he <em>didn't! <em> He knows that if I didn't say anything I would look bad and have points deducted! How could he do that to me!? And he hasn't looked at me once all day! He's been angry for some stupid reason and now I'm officially done with him! You guys were right!"

"Hime," Tatsuki started, "maybe there's some kind of misunderstanding? Or maybe there is a problem going on in his life that he can't tell you!" Orihime stared at her best friend in shock. Tatsuki was standing up for _Ulquiorra _instead of her!

"Yeah, Inoue," Ichigo began, "I think there's something more to it than this."

"What happened to following my judgment!?"

"I'm with Inoue on this," Rukia stated, taking a sip from her juice box. Uryu and Sado nodded in agreement. "Some people just can't be helped, no matter who is trying to help. He's just a dick, Inoue, don't let him get you upset." Orihime nodded as she resumed eating.

* * *

><p>"So what the hell happened in class you dick head?" Grimmjow asked, taking a seat next to Ulquiorra.<p>

"What do you mean?" Ulquiorra asked.

"You know damn well what I'm talking about, emo-shit. I'm not as dumb as you think, I know that you like her. And she likes you. But your dumb ass just ruined that for yourself."

"I hold no such feelings for her, Grimmjow. I do not know how many times I have to tell you that."

"Is it because she walked in with carrot-top? You are just jealous aren't you?" Grimmjow let out a loud cackle. "I get it now. You saw her walk in with Ichigo and you got your dick all tied up in a knot, huh?"

"I do not care who she affiliates with, but she was late when we needed to discuss important details about our presentation. Therefore, I did it myself."

"And you were just going to let her fail?"

"Yes. Does that finally prove to you that I do not care about that woman?"

"No. It just proves that you are the real dumbass here. And the biggest douche around here. You know about her living situation, right?"

"I understand she lives on her own-"

"Not that. Everyone knows that, idiot." Grimmjow let out a sigh. "I heard from people that her living in that apartment of hers is only if she gets good grades. If she gets bad grades, then she gets the boot as well. And that presentation of yours cost her quite a bit I'm guessing."

"What is the problem with that? She'll simply go living with her aunt, who is the one funding this whole thing."

"You really are an idiot. Don't you think that if her aunt wanted to keep her, she would be over there already? Not living by herself in some shitty apartment? My guess is that the moment her grades slip low enough, she'll be sent to live in some foster care shit system until she finally turns 18."

Ulquiorra looked his friend in the eye. Deep down he knew he was right, and this angered him. How could he have been so dumb and ignorant? How could he have been jealous enough to risk sending her away forever? After they were getting so close to finally revealing who he was to her. All he wanted was for her to remember who he was. Or was it?

During the course of their time together, Ulquiorra realized he had been developing… _feelings_ towards the orange haired beauty. Denying it any further was futile. Everyone knew this, except for that certain girl. Ulquiorra wanted more. He wanted something _more _with Orihime. He wanted to stroke her hair, feel her soft skin, share laughs and memories with her- memories she will actually remember- and see her smile. Her beautiful smile. The smile that could light up the entire world. He wanted to be the one to make her smile. But after seeing Orihime enter the classroom with Ichigo, laughing and smiling, he realized he wanted to be the _only _one to make her laugh and smile. Ulquiorra knew this was impossible, for she had friends she cared about, but to see it with the boy who formerly held her affections, it upset him. Upset him enough to make the girl he held feelings for frown rather than smile. He messed everything up.

"I messed up, Grimmjow."

The blue haired boy looked at his friend and sighed. "Obviously, moron."

"I cannot fix this. It is too late."

"This is why you are the idiot. I've never known anything about this whole _love _shit, but at least I'm not stupid enough to just give up. It isn't too late, but you are a coward." The boy then stood up and started walking away. "You can either fix it or just let it end this way, your choice. I'm bored of this. Later, moron."

"_As much as I hate to admit it, Grimmjow is right," _Ulquiorra thought. "_I have been nothing but a coward. There is no way that she would forgive me. But I have to try." _He then got up and walked back to the classroom, determined to get the girl of his dreams.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Entering the classroom, all the courage that Ulquiorra had built up from earlier had quickly disappeared. He looked at Orihime, who glanced back at him and quickly the other way after they made eye contact. "_She's still upset with me I see." _He began to walk back to his seat until he saw Grimmjow staring at him and shaking his head. "_Damn it. He's right. I'm being a coward again. I must be doing something wrong if that imbecile is shaking his head at me."_ Thus, the boy turned around and resumed his walk to the orange haired beauty. Approaching her desk, he stopped and waited for her to turn and face him, knowing that she could feel his presence. Realizing just how stubborn the girl could be, he gave up with the silence tactic. "Onna, look at me."

Orihime set her gaze on the dark haired boy with a distant look. "What is it, Ulq- I mean, Schiffer-kun?"

"Onna, do not call me that."

"What do you want?"

"I came to apologize."

"For what?"

"For being an idiot. I am sorry for not letting you talk in the presentation and for lowering your grade."

Orihime frowned. "Apology _not _accepted Schiffer! You think that you could easily win my forgiveness just by some lame apology? Well you can't! I am a forgiving person, but I can only take so much from one person. You confuse me Ulquiorra! You bring me in and then push me away! What did I even do to you?"

"You did nothing onna."

"So why did you do that?" Ulquiorra didn't reply. He couldn't. What was he to say? That he was jealous after seeing her walking in with Ichigo? That wasn't happening. "No reply? Goodbye, Schiffer. Looks like I was right in the end about us not being friends after the presentation."

"Onna-"

"Alright class, take your seats," their teacher announced walking into the room.

Ulquiorra walked back to his seat highly annoyed. Once the lecture started, he glanced towards Ichigo, anger surging throughout him. "_If that stupid trash would just disappear, this would not have happened." _ He then looked at Orihime. "_No. She's right. I have done nothing but push her away. This is my fault."_

* * *

><p>Finally, school ended and students began filing out of the classroom.<p>

"Ready to go, Hime?" Tatsuki asked Orihime.

"Yeah, lets go!" the girl replied, grinning from ear to ear.

"Onna. Where are you going?"

The orange haired girl turned around to see Ulquiorra, who was obviously listening to their conversation.

"My friends and I are going to stay at the beach this weekend, Schiffer."

"I am coming."

Orihime's jaw dropped. "W-What? I didn't invite you Ulq- I mean, Schiffer!"

"I do not need an invitation to go to the beach."

"W-Well, you need an invitation to stay with us in the hotel!"

Ulquiorra looked at the group she was going with: Tatsuki, Rukia, Ichigo, Sado, and Uryu. Then he set his gaze back to Orihime. "Onna, you are not to stay in the same room as these men. It is not acceptable and I will not allow it."

Orihime couldn't help but blush, much to her annoyance. "The boys are getting their own room! And there's no way that they would let you come along Ulquiorra!"

The dark haired boy smirked. "No longer referring to me with my last name?"

"Huh? Oh. Oh poop!"

Ichigo stepped forward. "I think Ulquiorra should be able to come with us. The girls will need a little extra help when it comes to our volleyball tournament anyways, am I right?"

"W-Wait, Kurosaki-kun!"

"Oh really? Is that right, Ichigo?" Tatsuki asked. "Are you sure the boys aren't going to be the ones to need the extra help?"

Ichigo chuckled and smirked. "I'm sure. So it's decided! Ulquiorra is coming with us! Let's all meet up at the train station at 5!"

Everybody left, leaving an aghast Orihime and a blank faced Ulquiorra. The girl then huffed and crossed her arms, leaving the classroom. Ulquiorra followed her and they walked in silence all the way back to her apartment. Orihime stepped inside, looked at Ulquiorra, and unexpectedly closed the door in his face. A few seconds later, the boy heard her sigh and she opened the door again. "Would you like to come in?"

Ulquiorra nodded his head and entered her apartment. He looked around and found that it wasn't as cluttered as he figured it would be. Last time he was in her apartment, it was practically spotless, so he assumed that she cleaned it for him, but now he was surprised to find out that she is actually a tidy person.

"Have you packed yet, onna?" Ulquiorra asked, taking a seat on her couch.

"No, I was actually planning on doing that now… How long do you plan on staying? Don't you have to pack if you are coming?"

"I was not planning on leaving here until you forgave me."

"I don't plan on doing that anytime soon, Ulquiorra."

"Then I am not leaving." The girl let out a sigh. "Do you need help packing, onna?"

"No, I like packing! It's fun making my clothes look nice and neat in a suitcase! Makes me feel like I am traveling the world or something!"

"Then I will wait here."

* * *

><p>45 minutes passed by while Ulquiorra sat on the couch waiting for Orihime to finish packing. Finally, he heard her call out his name from her room. "What is it you need, onna?" he called out from the living room. He had enough self-control to not walk into her room without permission.<p>

"Could you come in here? It looks like I do need a little help!" the girl answered with a little giggle in the end.

Walking into her room, the boy was startled to see her suitcase practically overflowing with clothes. "Onna, we are only staying there for a couple of days. Why are you packing so much?"

"Well, I have some winter clothes just in case it snows! You never know these days with global warming and stuff!"

"Onna, you are being ridiculous. Just leave some of the clothes here."

"No! I need it all! Here, I'll sit on it while you zip it up!" Ulquiorra sighed and nodded his head. Orihime sat on the suitcase while the boy attempted to stuff some of the clothes back into it. Once they were not hanging out, he then pulled at the zipper to close it. After some time and effort, it finally closed. Orihime shined a huge grin. "Ulquiorra, don't you have to pack still?"

"What shall I pack?"

"Well you definitely need 2 or 3 days worth of clothes! And of course a swimsuit."

"I do not have one."

"Wait, what? You don't have a swimsuit?"

"Do not make me repeat myself, onna."

"Wait right here!" The girl then ran into a different room, leaving a confused Ulquiorra. When she returned, she held a pair of swim trunks with a price tag on them. "These were my big brothers but don't worry he never got the chance to wear them! You can have these!"

Ulquiorra hesitated to accept the article of clothing. "Onna, I do not feel right taking something that once belonged to your brother."

"Oh. Please don't worry about it! It's been in his room this whole time and I think somebody should wear them…"

"…I will accept them then."

* * *

><p>Eventually, the two of them wound up in Ulquiorra's room so that he could pack. Unlike Orihime, the boy finished much quicker. There was only one thing left that he needed to pack. Going to his desk well aware of Orihime watching him, he pulled out the little box that held the friendship flower inside of it.<p>

"Oh, I almost forgot all about that!" Orihime exclaimed.

"I never leave for a long time without it." Ulquiorra stated. "Are you still upset with me, onna?"

"…Well, not as much as I was before, but I am still upset with you."

"If I show you what is inside, will it make you feel better?"

Orihime's eyes widened a fraction and her jaw dropped. "You are willing to show me to have me forgive you?"

"Yes. But not today."

"Huh?"

"I will show you the last night that we are at the beach."

Orihime grinned. "Can't wait."


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's Note: **Please review you guys!

Chapter 15

Arriving at the train station, Ulquiorra and Orihime met up with the rest of the group. Taking their seats on the train, Ulquiorra made sure to get a window seat, making it impossible to sit by anybody except for Orihime, and there was no way he was letting her sit somewhere that wasn't next to him. During the ride there, the boy was definitely annoyed by everybody's talking, so he tried to tune it out as much as possible. By doing this, he began to feel rather sleepy. Not wanting to look weak in front of the beauty's friends, he was determined to stay up the entire way, but sadly, his efforts were futile and he quickly dozed off to sleep, his head resting in his hand and his arm perched on the arm of the seat. Orihime looked over and found Ulquiorra in his peaceful slumber and couldn't help but smile. She also fought the urge to brush some of the dark locks of hair out of his face. "_Ulquiorra is seems so at peace when he's sleeping… It's actually really cute."_

As their train approached their destination, Orihime nudged the sleeping boy next to her. "Wake up, Ulquiorra!" she said in a gentle voice. The boy's eyes opened immediately and he looked as if he didn't know where he was. Sitting up and glancing at his surroundings, he immediately remembered what was going on and inwardly scolded himself for falling asleep in front of her friends- Ichigo especially. "We're here, Ulquiorra!"

"Do not state the obvious, onna," Ulquiorra tiredly replied. "I am well aware that we arrived."

Orihime stuck her tongue out at him and they all got off of the train and into the hotel that they were going to be staying in. It wasn't too fancy a hotel, but it wasn't shabby either. It was designed with red and white interior and was well furnished. It was also nice and tidy from the looks of it. What made the price a little lower than most hotels was that the rooms were smaller and considering that they were all going as a group, the price was going to be split among eight people, lowering the price for the individual.

"Hey there, how can I help you guys?" the boy at the front desk asked casually. He looked to be about two years older than them with long hair like Ichigo's but brown rather than his infamous carrot color. He was tall, also like Ichigo, but not as built, and there was no denying that he was attractive. The boy finally landed his eyes on Orihime and he couldn't stop staring in what seemed like worship. Orihime glanced at him to find him looking at her and gave a warm smile, setting the boys cheeks flaring. "Uhh, wh-what can I get you guys?"

Ichigo laughed, confusing Orihime but not the rest of the group, who had also not been blind to what was happening. "Can we get two rooms for two nights?"

"Y-Yeah! Sure! Coming right up!" The boy then turned around to get two keys and after fumbling with one of them for a little bit, he turned back to them to ring them up. "I'm assuming you are splitting it up by gender, right?" Ichigo nodded his head in reply. "Well, the two rooms closest to each other are 121 and 123! I'm also assuming you are all splitting the cost, correct?" Ichigo nodded once again. "Well, the two rooms would be $227.35 and being split among eight people would be $28.42."

Orihime's eyes sparkled in amazement and she scooted closer to the desk and away from Ulquiorra- much to his disliking. "Wow! You did that in your head that quickly!?" The boy blushed a crimson color once again and sheepishly answered by nodding his head yes. "That's amazing!"

Ulquiorra felt anger rising in him like no other. "_That dumb trash must think he is worth something since he could do some basic math problem. Why is the onna even acknowledging him? He is nothing but a front attendant. Nothing but trash." _Rukia and Tatsuki glanced over at Ulquiorra and the jealousy was practically written all over his face; it was hard to contain their giggles. Gaining the attention of Ichigo, Sado, and Uryu, they averted their gazes to the boy who was fuming with anger and envy, envy for Orihime's attention. The three smirked and watched Orihime talk to the attendant.

"So," the boy began, "what brings you here?"

"My friends and I are on a short trip to just relax!" the beautiful girl answered with a big smile.

"That sounds like so much fun! I wish I could have fun like that! But I'm always here, at the desk."

Orihime's jaw dropped and her face was masked with sympathy and pity. Looking at her friends and back at the attendant, she kindly offered, "Well, you could join us this weekend! I'm sure my friends wouldn't mind!"

The boy gasped and asked playing dumb, "Really? Are you sure that's okay? I wouldn't want to be a burden."

Her friends sighed. That was it. By bringing up the "burden" card, one could easily win against Orihime. "You could never be a burden! We are going down the beach at 8:00 for a late night swim! If you think you'll be able to get off work, you should come with us! It would be fun! Oh! By the way, my name is Inoue, Orihime!"

"I'm Kazoku! I'll be seeing you guys at 8:00!"

"Bye!" Orihime said as she grabbed one of the keys, leading the girls on the quest to find their room.

Ichigo grabbed the other and began to walk with the guys but noticed Ulquiorra wasn't following. "Hey, Ulquiorra, coming or not?"

"I will be there soon, trash. Do not wait for me," Ulquiorra replied darkly.

The boys shrugged their shoulders and continued walking. Ulquiorra walked up to the front desk. Kazoku looked up at him in confusion. "Is there something you need?"

"Listen well, trash. If you come to the beach tonight, I will have no choice but to destroy you. You are to stay away from the onna. Do you understand?" Ulquiorra asked, anger showing in his threatening gaze.

Kazoku was stunned at first, but quickly recovered. "Oh, I see. You like her, huh? It's understandable. I mean, she's stunning. But I assume that since you couldn't say this stuff to me with her around, you guys probably aren't dating, am I right?"

"We do not have to be dating for me to keep her away from disgusting filth like you."

"So that's a no. Look, I think I have a chance with her. You don't. I mean, look at you! You are so pale and odd looking! She deserves better than that!"

"Oh I agree with you on that. The onna deserves much better than me. She is too good for every man alive."

"I am coming tonight, and I am gonna win her heart fair and square. If you manage to win her heart tonight, then fine, I'll back off. Deal?" The boy held his hand out for a handshake, which Ulquiorra bluntly rejected.

"Deal," he said, walking off to his room. "_There is no way I am going to let him win this."_


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

After Ulquiorra's confrontation with Kazoku, he tried to find his room. "_It was either 121 or 123," _he thought to himself as he approached the two rooms. He decided to just guess and went with 121, turning the doorknob and opening the door. Luckily, his hunch was correct, and he entered the small room and put his luggage in one of the corners away from everybody else's.

"So did you beat the poor kid up?" Ichigo asked, pulling a pair of red swim trunks out of his suitcase.

"What do you mean? I merely had to use the bathroom," Ulquiorra answered, following what Ichigo was doing, pulling the pair of swim trunks that Orihime gave him.

"Sure you did. You could've used the bathroom in here, you know?"

"…I am aware of that."

Ichigo and Uryu laughed. "So do we have to worry about being kicked out of here anytime soon?"

"No. You do not have to worry. I told him to back off and he challenged me to a ridiculous test."

"What kind of test?" Uryu asked, his curiosity peaked.

"…To win the onna's affections."

"Whoa," Ichigo said, dropping the shorts that were in his hands, "you are going to try to win Inoue? Last time I checked, the two of you love birds were fighting because you were being a dick, and from what I saw at the front desk, the kid has a chance."

"Ichigo," Sado intervened, "you do understand that he is older than us, right? He isn't a kid."

"Hmph, whatever, same thing. Point is, you are gonna need some luck on this one, Ulquiorra."

"I am well aware that this may be tricky, I do not need you telling me that."

"Yeah, yeah. If it makes you feel better, at the moment I would be more comfortable with Inoue dating you than some stranger."

"What happened to the rivalry and hatred that you held for me and my friends?"

"Oh, don't get me wrong. You are still a dick, along with the rest of those morons you hang out with. But only an idiot would think that you are using Inoue and that you aren't head over heels for her."

* * *

><p>"So, Inoue, what's going on with you and Schiffer?" Rukia asked, coming out of the bathroom showing off her new one piece swimsuit. It was rather adorable on the girl. It was red and had some frill to give off the illusion of having breasts.<p>

Of course, the orange haired girl began to blush and asked, "What do you mean?"

"Hime, you aren't fooling anyone here," Tatsuki said, grabbing her one piece swimsuit from her suitcase. Tatsuki is a simple person, therefore her swimsuit was simple as well. It was just an ordinary, dark blue swimsuit.

"Nothing is going on!"

The karate lover walked to her best friend's suitcase, threw some of the dresses that were on top aside, and pulled out a small, hot pink bikini with a bow in the middle. It was clear that with this bikini- not to mention the size of Orihime's breasts- was definitely going to show some cleavage. "Says the one who brought this bikini on this trip! Who are you showing off for, Sado?" the girl asked sarcastically. "Or is it for that boy downstairs? What's his name again? Kazoki?"

"_Kazoku. _ And it's for nobody! I thought it was cute and it was the only one I could find that somewhat fit me…"

"Inoue, you can tell us anything!" Rukia said, adjusting her swimsuit by ruffling the flares more, attempting to make her breasts appear bigger after hearing about Orihime's swimsuit.

"I know… It's just that _I _don't even know what it is I'm feeling! I don't know what to feel! I think that I like him but after everything he does it makes things harder. Not only that, but Ulquiorra would _never _like somebody like me… I'm clumsy, loud, ditzy, and he's smart, poised, and has excellent manners. He's probably into really sophisticated girls! Ulquiorra probably wants a girl that doesn't stand out so much! I'm picturing a girl with medium length brown hair, glasses, and is super pretty but quiet and reserved! That's not me… He would never like me and it's a good thing that problem with our presentation happened because knowing how stupid I am, I probably would've went for it." The other two girls looked at their friend with sympathy. "Well, I have to go put my swimsuit on! Be right back!"

"That girl kills me every time," Tatsuki announced. "Why doesn't she understand that she could get any guy in our school? Hell, even outside our school!"

"Is it time to plot?" Rukia asked with a mischievous smile and her hands on her hips.

"Definitely." There was then a knock at the door, interrupting the girls' plans. Opening the door, Tatsuki saw that it was Ichigo, Uryu, and Sado, all attired in their swim trunks. Considering that they were just swim trunks, there was nothing special about them; Ichigo's were red, Uryu's blue, and Sado's were yellow. "What do you guys want? And where's Schiffer?"

"He refused to get dressed with us in the room," Uryu answered.

"He couldn't just go into the bathroom?"

"Nope."

"Weird. Anyways, why are you here?"

"You could always be a little more polite, Tatsuki," Ichigo stated, instantly being hit upside the head by his childhood friend. "You know that Kazoku guy? Apparently he challenged Ulquiorra to see who could win Inoue tonight."

"WHAT!?" the two girls cried out.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm rooting for Ulquiorra, so we should make it happen."

"I agree," Tatsuki said, Sado nodding his head.

"I don't," Rukia announced. "This new guy is adorable and Ulquiorra is just a dick. Orihime deserves somebody new." Uryu nodded his head in agreement.

"Oh yeah? Wanna make a bet on who she chooses?" Ichigo asked with a smirk.

"Oh I want in on this," Tatsuki and Uryu said.

"Fine, you are on!" Rukia exclaimed.

"Huh? What are the guys doing here?" Orihime asked, stepping out of the bathroom dressed in her bikini, gaining blushes from Uryu.

"Oh, we uhh, came to get you guys! It's 7:50, might as well head down to the beach a little earlier!" Ichigo lied, scratching his head and chuckling awkwardly.

"Where is Ulquiorra?"

"I am right here, onna."

Ulquiorra came over to everyone else dressed in his swim trunks, which he detested. He hated showing off more skin than he deemed necessary. As much as he hated to admit it, Ulquiorra was insecure about the paleness of his skin, and showing it off to world did not seem like fun. Orihime stared at the dark haired boy. His hair contrasted drastically with the complexion of his skin and his abs made her feel a little light headed. There were times when she was worried she was going to drool. Ulquiorra noticed her staring and smirked, then decided to let his own eyes travel. As much as he hated showing off his own skin, he was glad as hell that the girl in front of him didn't. Her skin looked creamy and soft, and his fingers longed to be touching her. He hated to think this, but he thought that the cleavage was very flattering and her flat stomach and curves were definitely much to his liking. Finally, somebody was there to cut off the intense gazes.

"Well, I didn't know we were going early so let me go get dressed really quick," Tatsuki said, rushing to the bathroom.

As Ulquiorra resumed his staring, he remembered that there were three- soon to be four- other guys with them. He did not want them to be looking at the beautiful girl's perfect body. "Onna," he started, "do you not think your choice of clothing is inappropriate?"

Orihime tilted her head a little to the side and pouted. "You don't like it?"

"_Damn onna, twisting my words around," _he thought as he tried to think of a way to recover from that. "It is suits you very well, but is inappropriate."

The girl blushed at his discreet compliment. "Well, this is the only swimsuit I brought, and sadly most swimsuits are like this…"

Ulquiorra immediately realized that of course Orihime had not meant to reveal so much of herself, it was just that no matter what she wore, her voluptuous curves would show despite her efforts. "I understand."

Finally, Tatsuki came out and the seven of them walked down to the beach. Arriving at their destination, they saw Kazoku waiting for them. Ulquiorra scowled inwardly when he saw him, agitated that not only did he like Orihime, but he also had a body that appealed to women. He was a threat. He needed to be eliminated.

"You guys made it!" he yelled, running over to them. "Hey, Orihime. I bet I can beat you into the water!"

Orihime grinned and instantly ran to the shore. Ulquiorra had to admit, there was no wonder as to why Kazoku liked Orihime. Seeing her run in her bikini was definitely a reason to like her. The rest of the group joined the two of them in the water- except for Ulquiorra, who waited on the sand, watching Orihime and Kazoku. "_She deserves somebody better than me. Maybe I should just give up and let her be happy. It definitely looks like she is enjoying herself with him." _Losing what hope he had, Ulquiorra began to walk away.

This did not go unnoticed by Orihime. "Ulquiorra?"

"Orihime, come swim with me!" Kazoku said.

"Uhh, do you think we could take a break from swimming? Maybe we could just take a quick walk!" Kazoku nodded his head and they left their spot in the water, going farther down the beach, Orihime leading the way to find Ulquiorra.

About 10 minutes later, Kazoku stopped walking, surprising Orihime. "Is there something wrong, Kazoku-kun?" she asked.

"Don't you think we've done enough walking now?" Kazoku asked, walking up to her. He placed his hand on her cheek, causing them to turn red.

"Uhh, w-what are you doing?"

"Orihime, it's time to have some fun."

* * *

><p>Ulquiorra returned to where the group was, still wading in the water, except he didn't see Orihime or Kazoku. Worry, panic, and anger rose in him. What if he took her and was planning on doing something to her? What if she knew of his intentions and agreed to it? What if she wanted it? What if Kazoku actually won? All of these questions invaded his mind. He ran into the water with the group. "Kurosaki," he started, "where is the onna?"<p>

"Inoue? Oh, I don't know. I don't see Kazoku either. Oh shit, do you think-"

Ulquiorra instantly ran out of the water and went to go find Orihime. Ichigo and the others called out for him, telling him to wait for them. He couldn't wait for them. He had to find Orihime. He had to take her away from Kazoku. He had to make sure she was alright, but running aimlessly and overcome with panic was not going to solve anything. The boy stopped to close his eyes and take deep breaths. When he opened them again, he calmly searched for a sign of Orihime or some type of clue as to where she was. Finally, he saw some footsteps in the sand. Figuring that they were the only ones at the beach at this time, he decided to run in that direction. He knew it was a long shot, but it was the only shot he had at finding her. "_Damn it, onna! Why must you be alluring and naïve!?"_

* * *

><p>"Kazoku, I'm sorry if you got the wrong idea, but I invited you to come with us so you could be my friend and have fun…" Orihime said, backing away from the boy.<p>

His hand fell to his side and his face looked unemotional. "So I could be your friend? Listen, Orihime, no guy will _ever _want to be your friend. They just want to have sex with you. That's all there is to it. Now, how about we end this nonsense and you learn your place." Kazoku reached out to grab her arm and Orihime acted on instinct. Grabbing his wrist with one hand, she slapped him straight across the face with the other. Kazoku was stunned, but once he recovered, anger masked his face. "You bitch!"

Orihime turned and ran, but running in the sand in flip flops was futile for her, for she stumbled and was hastily picked up by the wrist. "K-Kazoku-kun, don't do this!"

"Shut up, bitch!" he cried out as he threw her into the sand. He then kicked her once in the gut, causing her to bend over and struggle for air. Once the girl regained her breath, she sat up and looked into her predator's eyes. Evil glinted in them. How could she have not seen this before? "Are you going to cooperate now or not?"

"P-Please don't do this!"

"Wrong answer." He then quickly backhanded her, making her fall back into the sand. Blood oozed from her lip, which was surely going to swell. That is, if she made it out from this alive.

Orihime sobbed. This was it. This was it for her, all because she had been so stupid inviting a complete stranger to hang out with them. "_This is it. I am so stupid and naïve. I hope Tatsuki can find happiness without me, along with everyone else. I would hate to be the reason as to why they are upset. I also hope Ulquiorra can forgive me for being harsh to him. I wish I got the chance to become closer to him." _She then closed her eyes, waiting for the next hit. Kazoku kicked her once again in the gut and this time it took longer to regain her breath. The next thing she knew, she was being picked up by her neck and lifted a couple inches in the air. This was it. Kazoku was going to end her life.

**Author's Note: **I felt the need to add something serious and whatnot, sooo here you go!


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

"U-Ulquiorra…" the girl managed to get out in a faint whisper. She closed her eyes, awaiting her slumber, unsure as to whether or not she would wake up. "_Goodbye, everyone."_

"ORIHIME!"

Orihime's eyes opened just a fraction to see Ulquiorra running up to them before tackling Kazoku to the ground, causing her to fall into the sand. She struggled to keep herself awake and saw glimpses of Ulquiorra and Kazoku fighting before she succumbed to her exhaustion. Whether she lived or died was up to Ulquiorra, but that did not matter to her. All she wanted was for him to be safe.

* * *

><p>Hours later, Orihime woke up in her hotel room in bed and under the blankets. She sat up and instantly cringed and gasped at the pain. She looked at her stomach which had a big, dark bruise. The girl then realized that her head was hurting and figured it was from when Kazoku lifted her by the neck. "<em>Do I have bruises on my neck?"<em>

"So you are awake?"

Orihime whipped her head- which caused her to wince in pain once again- to see Ulquiorra sitting in one of the chairs at her bedside. The boy looked as if he hadn't slept in days. "U-Ulquiorra?" Tears instantly filled her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. She was relieved to see him but also sad at what she saw. He had a busted lip and a couple of scratches and bruises over his body. "You are hurt."

"Do not worry about me, onna."

"W-What happened? I guess I kind of passed out right when you got there."

"…When I saw him holding you in the air, I tackled him to the ground, which is when you passed out, I presumed. After that, he punched me in the jaw, which is why my lip looks like this. Some more hits were exchanged but I had the upper hand and I managed to easily knock him out after a short while. I would have killed him if it weren't for Kurosaki and the rest of your friends arriving."

"What happened to Kazoku-kun?"

"It turns out that he had been sexually harassing girls for a little bit and the police were finally able to catch him. He is now locked up in jail and won't be getting out anytime soon. A doctor also looked at you while you were unconscious and said you should be fine, but try not to move around too much."

"Orihime, you are awake!"

The said girl turned her head, which hurt once again, to see the rest of the group- Tatsuki leading them- pouring into the room. Each of them wore looks of concern. "Tatsuki!"

"How are you!? Are you okay!?"

"I'm fine, just a little beat up," Orihime answered with a giggle. "It just hurts to turn my head, kind of like when you sleep in a funny position!"

"I am so sorry, Hime. If I had seen you guys leaving and if I had known-"

"Don't blame yourself, Tatsuki! I shouldn't have been dumb enough to invite some stranger!"

"That is true," Ulquiorra added in.

"Hey, don't be a dick," Ichigo said.

"It is the truth and that is no longer acceptable. You will learn not to talk to strangers, onna."

Orihime burst into laughter, which surprised everyone in the room and caused her bruised stomach to ache. "You sound like a dad!"

"Enough talking for tonight. You need to rest." The other three boys said their goodbyes and went into the other room. Rukia and Tatsuki went into the bathroom to brush their teeth and Ulquiorra stayed by Orihime. "You worried me, onna."

"I'm sorry."

"It looks like I'll have to be watching you much more carefully from now on." Orihime's face grew a faint shade of pink. The couple stared into each other's eyes, seemingly searching for something in them. Ulquiorra leaned in, his body acting on his own, and whispered in her ear, "Goodnight, Orihime," and placed a soft, gentle kiss on her forehead, causing the orange haired girl to tremble and gasp in shock. Her cheeks were scorching and her stomach pain was instantly replaced by a swarm of butterflies. And with that, Ulquiorra left the room, shutting the door on the way out.

"H-Hime? Did I just see Schiffer kiss your cheek?" Tatsuki asked, standing in the doorway with wide eyes along with Rukia. Her only answer was a nod. "I already had the urge to kill one boy today and now I have two. But I guess I'll let this one slide considering he saved you."

Soon, the lights were turned off and the girls were in bed- Rukia and Tatsuki sharing one bed, Orihime in the other. "_He saved me. Ulquiorra saved me." _At first, this made her insanely happy, but then Kazoku's words replayed in her mind. "_No guy will want to be your friend. They just want to have sex with you." _Orihime kept questioning whether or not Ulquiorra only saved her for that reason. Maybe he didn't want to be friends with her and he wanted what most other guys had wanted from her. Maybe the rumors were true and that he was trouble. "_Ulquiorra just doesn't seem like the type… He saved me, I shouldn't be questioning his intentions!" _ Thus, the girl rolled over and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

><p>"Ulquiorra, aren't you gonna sleep?" Ichigo asked, watching the said boy standing near the door, appearing as if he were leaving the room.<p>

"I must make sure that nothing happens to the onna."

"So you are going to stand outside her room all night? I really don't think anything else is going to happen tonight. Get some sleep."

"I can't. Not until I know that she is safe." With that, the dark haired boy left his room and sat outside of the girls' room. He honestly didn't think that anything was going to happen, but after what happened earlier, he was not going to risk anymore harm coming to Orihime. He brought his hand up to his mouth and played with his lip. He had kissed Orihime's forehead. His scabbed over _lips _touched Orihime's skin. This sent a weird feeling throughout Ulquiorra's body. It was warm and… _pleasant. _Her skin was soft, just as he had predicted. Eventually as time passed, he began having a hard time keeping his eyes open. Sleep eventually overcame his body and he peacefully dozed off to sleep, eager to have a sweet dream about his princess.

About three hours into his slumber, Ulquiorra woke up to the sound of the door behind him being unlocked. His eyes instantly opened and he jolted himself up to look at who was trying to get in. To his surprise, it was somebody trying to get _out_, and it was none other than Orihime. Once the girl saw him, she jumped and let out a quiet shriek. "U-Ulquiorra!? What are you doing out here!? You should be asleep!"

"I could say the same about you, onna," Ulquiorra replied, rubbing his eyes. Being woken up in the middle of the night was not exactly fun for him.

"Oh, I uhh, got thirsty and was going to buy a water bottle from the vending machine down the hall!"

"You are not supposed to be moving around."

"I was just getting a water bottle and I feel fine!"

"Onna, you were almost killed last night. You are not allowed to be going around on your own anymore. You are to be accompanied by somebody at all times."

Orihime's jaw dropped. "I don't need somebody watching over me!"

"We are not arguing about this. End of discussion."

The girl sighed and gave up arguing with her stubborn savior. She then led the way to the end of the hallway to the vending machine. Deciding that she was also hungry, she got a bag of gummy worms along with her water bottle. The couple then walked back to her room. "So are you going to go back in your room now?" Orihime asked, opening the bag of candy and popping one into her mouth and chewing on the sweet delicacy.

"No."

"Why are you out here?"

"That is none of your concern."

"Is it to protect me?" The boy simply looked away, knowing that he couldn't lie to her. He then leaned with his back against the door and slid down until he was sitting in front of it. Orihime did the same next to him. They sat there in a comfortable silence that lasted for a few minutes. Finally, Orihime sighed, gaining the attention from the boy sitting next to her.

"What is it, onna?"

"…There are some words that Kazoku said that are just stuck in my head and I want them to leave!" the girl answered, gently hitting her head with her fists.

"What did he say to you?"

"…Well… he said that no guy actually wants to be friends with me and that they only want s-sex from me…" Orihime answered, squeaking the last words at the end and blushing.

"Do you believe him?"

"…I guess I started to question some things…"

"You are wondering if I am only being your companion for sex?" The girl nodded her head, causing him to sigh. "You are foolish, onna."

"I-I know! I only questioned it for a little bit, don't worry!"

Ulquiorra asked with his eyebrows raised, "What changed your mind?"

"Well, lots of things!"

"Name them. Now."

"Well, for one, you saved me instead of just going along with it. You also don't seem like the type to do something like that. You are more caring and sweet than you care to admit or lead on. And just because I doubt you would want to do that stuff with me anyways!"

"…"

"Thank you again, Ulquiorra. For saving me, I mean. But I don't think anybody is going to come by here to try to kill me, and even if somebody did, I will have the door locked and Tatsuki will be right there to stop them and protect me! So, go back in your room and go to bed, okay?" Orihime asked with a warm smile as she stood up.

Ulquiorra got up as well and faced the girl of his dreams. The lights were dimmed a lot but her beauty was still apparent. The girl was absorbed in his eyes, practically drowning in them. They lit up in the dark. They caused butterflies in her stomach. They made her feel whole. A burst of courage was built up in Orihime and she quickly leaned forward on her toes and kissed Ulquiorra's forehead, causing volcanos to erupt in the both of them. Their cheeks were set ablaze and their hearts kept rattling inside of them.

"Goodnight," Orihime finally said, opening the door and entering her room.

"Goodnight," Ulquiorra replied, entering his room knowing that he now wouldn't be able to sleep at all.


End file.
